Local gov. employees/PRA

AN ACT Relating to the protection of voluntary supplied personal 1
information of local government employees; amending RCW 42.56.250; 2
reenacting and amending RCW 42.56.250; providing an effective date; 3
and providing an expiration date. 4
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:5
Sec. 1. RCW 42.56.250 and 2025 c 283 s 1 are each amended to 6
read as follows: 7
(1) The following employment and licensing information is exempt 8
from public inspection and copying under this chapter:9
(a) Test questions, scoring keys, and other examination data used 10
to administer a license, employment, or academic examination;11
(b) All applications for public employment other than for 12
vacancies in elective office, including the names of applicants, 13
resumes, and other related materials submitted with respect to an 14
applicant; 15
(c) Professional growth plans (PGPs) in educator license renewals 16
submitted through the eCert system in the office of the 17
superintendent of public instruction; 18
(d) The following information held by any public agency in 19
personnel records, public employment related records, volunteer 20
rosters, or included in any mailing list of employees or volunteers 21
S-3882.1
SENATE BILL 6123
State of Washington 69th Legislature 2026 Regular Session
By Senators Conway, Nobles, Saldaña, and Valdez
Read first time 01/14/26. Referred to Committee on State Government,
Tribal Affairs & Elections.
p. 1 SB 6123
of any public agency: Residential addresses, residential telephone 1
numbers, personal wireless telephone numbers, personal email 2
addresses, social security numbers, driver's license numbers, 3
identicard numbers, payroll deductions including the amount and 4
identification of the deduction, and emergency contact information of 5
employees or volunteers of a public agency, and the names, dates of 6
birth, residential addresses, residential telephone numbers, personal 7
wireless telephone numbers, personal email addresses, social security 8
numbers, and emergency contact information of dependents of employees 9
or volunteers of a public agency. For purposes of this subsection 10
(1)(d), "employees" includes independent provider home care workers 11
as defined in RCW 74.39A.240; 12
(e) Information that identifies a person who, while an agency 13
employee: (i) Seeks advice, under an informal process established by 14
the employing agency, in order to ascertain his or her rights in 15
connection with a possible unfair practice under chapter 49.60 RCW 16
against the person; and (ii) requests his or her identity or any 17
identifying information not be disclosed; 18
(f)(i) Except as provided in (f)(ii) of this subsection, 19
investigative records compiled by an employing agency in connection 20
with an investigation of a possible unfair practice under chapter 21
49.60 RCW or of a possible violation of other federal, state, or 22
local laws or an employing agency's internal policies prohibiting 23
discrimination or harassment in employment. Records are exempt in 24
their entirety while the investigation is active and ongoing. After 25
the agency has notified the complaining employee of the outcome of 26
the investigation, the records may be disclosed only if the names, 27
images, employee agency job titles, email addresses, and phone 28
numbers of complainants, other accusers, and witnesses are redacted 29
and their voices on any audio recording taken during the course of 30
the investigation have been altered while retaining inflection and 31
tone, except to the extent that such a complainant, other accuser, or 32
witness has consented to the disclosure of such information. The 33
employing agency must inform a complainant, other accuser, or witness 34
that his or her name, image, agency job title, email address, and 35
phone number will be redacted from the investigation records and 36
their voice on any audio recording taken during the course of the 37
investigation will be altered in accordance with this subsection 38
unless he or she consents to disclosure; 39
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(ii) After the investigation is complete and the complainant has 1
been notified of the outcome of the investigation, if an elected 2
government official is a complainant, the name and title of such 3
elected government official shall not be redacted from the 4
investigatory records; 5
(g) Criminal history records checks for board staff finalist 6
candidates conducted pursuant to RCW 43.33A.025; 7
(h) Photographs and month and year of birth in the personnel 8
files of employees or volunteers of a public agency, including 9
employees and workers of criminal justice agencies as defined in RCW 10
10.97.030. The news media, as defined in RCW 5.68.010(5), shall have 11
access to the photographs and full date of birth. For the purposes of 12
this subsection (1)(h), news media does not include any person or 13
organization of persons in the custody of a criminal justice agency 14
as defined in RCW 10.97.030; 15
(i)(i) Any employee's name or other personally identifying 16
information, including but not limited to birthdate, job title, 17
addresses of work stations and locations, work email address, work 18
phone number, bargaining unit, or other similar information, 19
maintained by an agency in personnel-related records or systems, or 20
responsive to a request for a list of individuals subject to the 21
commercial purpose prohibition under RCW 42.56.070(8), if the 22
employee: 23
(A) Has provided a sworn statement, signed under penalty of 24
perjury and verified by the director of the employing agency or 25
director's designee, that the employee or a dependent of the employee 26
is a survivor of domestic violence as defined in RCW 10.99.020 or 27
7.105.010, sexual assault as defined in RCW 70.125.030 or sexual 28
abuse as defined in RCW 7.105.010, stalking as described in RCW 29
9A.46.110 or defined in RCW 7.105.010, or harassment as described in 30
RCW 9A.46.020 or defined in RCW 7.105.010, and notifying the agency 31
as to why the employee has a reasonable basis to believe that the 32
risk of domestic violence, sexual assault, sexual abuse, stalking, or 33
harassment continues to exist. A sworn statement under this 34
subsection expires after two years, but may be subsequently renewed 35
by providing a new sworn statement to the employee's employing 36
agency; or 37
(B) Provides proof to the employing agency of the employee's 38
participation or the participation of a dependent in the address 39
confidentiality program under chapter 40.24 RCW. 40
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(ii) Any documentation maintained by an agency to administer this 1
subsection (1)(i) is exempt from disclosure under this chapter and is 2
confidential and may not be disclosed without consent of the employee 3
who submitted the documentation. Agencies may provide information to 4
their employees on how to submit a request to anonymize their work 5
email address. 6
(iii) For purposes of this subsection (1)(i), "verified" means 7
that the director of the employing agency or director's designee 8
confirmed that the sworn statement identifies the alleged perpetrator 9
or perpetrators by name and, if possible, image or likeness, or that 10
the director or designee obtained from the employee a police report, 11
protection order petition, or other documentation of allegations 12
related to the domestic violence, sexual assault or abuse, stalking, 13
or harassment. 14
(iv) The exemption in this subsection (1)(i) does not apply to 15
public records requests from the news media as defined in RCW 16
5.68.010(5); 17
(j) The global positioning system data that would indicate the 18
location of the residence of a public employee or volunteer using the 19
global positioning system recording device; 20
(k) Information relating to a future voter, as provided in RCW 21
29A.08.725; 22
(l) Voluntarily submitted information collected and maintained by 23
((a state )) an agency ((or higher education institution )) that 24
identifies an individual ((state)) employee's personal demographic 25
details. "Personal demographic details" means race or ethnicity, 26
sexual orientation as defined by RCW 49.60.040, immigration status, 27
national origin, or status as a person with a disability. This 28
exemption does not prevent the release of ((state employee )) 29
demographic information in a deidentified or aggregate format; and30
(m) Benefit enrollment information collected and maintained by 31
the health care authority through its authority as director of the 32
public employees' benefits board and school employees' benefits board 33
programs as authorized by chapter 41.05 RCW. This subsection (1)(m) 34
does not prevent the release of benefit enrollment information in a 35
deidentified or aggregate format. "Benefit enrollment information" 36
means: 37
(i) Information listed in (d) of this subsection;38
(ii) Personal demographic details as defined in (l) of this 39
subsection; 40
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(iii) Benefit elections; 1
(iv) Date of birth; 2
(v) Documents provided for verification of dependency, such as 3
tax returns or marriage or birth certificates; 4
(vi) Marital status; 5
(vii) Primary language spoken; 6
(viii) Tobacco use status; and 7
(ix) Tribal affiliation. 8
(2) Upon receipt of a request for information located exclusively 9
in an employee's personnel, payroll, supervisor, or training file, 10
the agency must provide notice to the employee, to any union 11
representing the employee, and to the requestor. The notice must 12
state: 13
(a) The date of the request; 14
(b) The nature of the requested record relating to the employee;15
(c) That the agency will release any information in the record 16
which is not exempt from the disclosure requirements of this chapter 17
at least ten days from the date the notice is made; and18
(d) That the employee may seek to enjoin release of the records 19
under RCW 42.56.540. 20
Sec. 2. RCW 42.56.250 and 2025 c 283 s 1 and 2025 c 238 s 5 are 21
each reenacted and amended to read as follows: 22
(1) The following employment and licensing information is exempt 23
from public inspection and copying under this chapter:24
(a) Test questions, scoring keys, and other examination data used 25
to administer a license, employment, or academic examination;26
(b) All applications for public employment other than for 27
vacancies in elective office, including the names of applicants, 28
resumes, and other related materials submitted with respect to an 29
applicant; 30
(c) Professional growth plans (PGPs) in educator license renewals 31
submitted through the eCert system in the office of the 32
superintendent of public instruction; 33
(d) The following information held by any public agency in 34
personnel records, public employment related records, volunteer 35
rosters, or included in any mailing list of employees or volunteers 36
of any public agency: Residential addresses, residential telephone 37
numbers, personal wireless telephone numbers, personal email 38
addresses, social security numbers, driver's license numbers, 39
p. 5 SB 6123
identicard numbers, payroll deductions including the amount and 1
identification of the deduction, and emergency contact information of 2
employees or volunteers of a public agency, and the names, dates of 3
birth, residential addresses, residential telephone numbers, personal 4
wireless telephone numbers, personal email addresses, social security 5
numbers, and emergency contact information of dependents of employees 6
or volunteers of a public agency. For purposes of this subsection 7
(1)(d), "employees" includes independent provider home care workers 8
as defined in RCW 74.39A.240; 9
(e) Information that identifies a person who, while an agency 10
employee: (i) Seeks advice, under an informal process established by 11
the employing agency, in order to ascertain his or her rights in 12
connection with a possible unfair practice under chapter 49.60 RCW 13
against the person; and (ii) requests his or her identity or any 14
identifying information not be disclosed; 15
(f)(i) Except as provided in (f)(ii) of this subsection, 16
investigative records compiled by an employing agency in connection 17
with an investigation of a possible unfair practice under chapter 18
49.60 RCW or of a possible violation of other federal, state, or 19
local laws or an employing agency's internal policies prohibiting 20
discrimination or harassment in employment. Records are exempt in 21
their entirety while the investigation is active and ongoing. After 22
the agency has notified the complaining employee of the outcome of 23
the investigation, the records may be disclosed only if the names, 24
images, employee agency job titles, email addresses, and phone 25
numbers of complainants, other accusers, and witnesses are redacted 26
and their voices on any audio recording taken during the course of 27
the investigation have been altered while retaining inflection and 28
tone, except to the extent that such a complainant, other accuser, or 29
witness has consented to the disclosure of such information. The 30
employing agency must inform a complainant, other accuser, or witness 31
that his or her name, image, agency job title, email address, and 32
phone number will be redacted from the investigation records and 33
their voice on any audio recording taken during the course of the 34
investigation will be altered in accordance with this subsection 35
unless he or she consents to disclosure; 36
(ii) After the investigation is complete and the complainant has 37
been notified of the outcome of the investigation, if an elected 38
government official is a complainant, the name and title of such 39
p. 6 SB 6123
elected government official shall not be redacted from the 1
investigatory records; 2
(g) Criminal history records checks for board staff finalist 3
candidates conducted pursuant to RCW 43.33A.025; 4
(h) Photographs and month and year of birth in the personnel 5
files of employees or volunteers of a public agency, including 6
employees and workers of criminal justice agencies as defined in RCW 7
10.97.030. The news media, as defined in RCW 5.68.010(5), shall have 8
access to the photographs and full date of birth. For the purposes of 9
this subsection (1)(h), news media does not include any person or 10
organization of persons in the custody of a criminal justice agency 11
as defined in RCW 10.97.030; 12
(i)(i) Any employee's name or other personally identifying 13
information, including but not limited to birthdate, job title, 14
addresses of work stations and locations, work email address, work 15
phone number, bargaining unit, or other similar information, 16
maintained by an agency in personnel-related records or systems, or 17
responsive to a request for a list of individuals subject to the 18
commercial purpose prohibition under RCW 42.56.070(8), if the 19
employee: 20
(A) Has provided a sworn statement, signed under penalty of 21
perjury and verified by the director of the employing agency or 22
director's designee, that the employee or a dependent of the employee 23
is a survivor of domestic violence as defined in RCW 10.99.020 or 24
7.105.010, sexual assault as defined in RCW 70.125.030 or sexual 25
abuse as defined in RCW 7.105.010, stalking as described in RCW 26
9A.46.110 or defined in RCW 7.105.010, or harassment as described in 27
RCW 9A.46.020 or defined in RCW 7.105.010, and notifying the agency 28
as to why the employee has a reasonable basis to believe that the 29
risk of domestic violence, sexual assault, sexual abuse, stalking, or 30
harassment continues to exist. A sworn statement under this 31
subsection expires after two years, but may be subsequently renewed 32
by providing a new sworn statement to the employee's employing 33
agency; or 34
(B) ((Proof [Provides proof] )) Provides proof to the employing 35
agency of the employee's participation or the participation of a 36
dependent in the address confidentiality program under chapter 40.24 37
RCW. 38
(ii) Any documentation maintained by an agency to administer this 39
subsection (1)(i) is exempt from disclosure under this chapter and is 40
p. 7 SB 6123
confidential and may not be disclosed without consent of the employee 1
who submitted the documentation. Agencies may provide information to 2
their employees on how to submit a request to anonymize their work 3
email address. 4
(iii) For purposes of this subsection (1)(i), "verified" means 5
that the director of the employing agency or director's designee 6
confirmed that the sworn statement identifies the alleged perpetrator 7
or perpetrators by name and, if possible, image or likeness, or that 8
the director or designee obtained from the employee a police report, 9
protection order petition, or other documentation of allegations 10
related to the domestic violence, sexual assault or abuse, stalking, 11
or harassment. 12
(iv) The exemption in this subsection (1)(i) does not apply to 13
public records requests from the news media as defined in RCW 14
5.68.010(5); 15
(j) The global positioning system data that would indicate the 16
location of the residence of a public employee or volunteer using the 17
global positioning system recording device; 18
(k) Information relating to a future voter, as provided in RCW 19
29A.08.725; 20
(l) Voluntarily submitted information collected and maintained by 21
((a state )) an agency ((or higher education institution )) that 22
identifies an individual ((state)) employee's personal demographic 23
details. "Personal demographic details" means race or ethnicity, 24
sexual orientation as defined by RCW 49.60.040, immigration status, 25
national origin, or status as a person with a disability. This 26
exemption does not prevent the release of ((state employee )) 27
demographic information in a deidentified or aggregate format;28
(m) Benefit enrollment information collected and maintained by 29
the health care authority through its authority as director of the 30
public employees' benefits board and school employees' benefits board 31
programs as authorized by chapter 41.05 RCW. This subsection (1)(m) 32
does not prevent the release of benefit enrollment information in a 33
deidentified or aggregate format. "Benefit enrollment information" 34
means: 35
(i) Information listed in (d) of this subsection;36
(ii) Personal demographic details as defined in (l) of this 37
subsection; 38
(iii) Benefit elections; 39
(iv) Date of birth; 40
p. 8 SB 6123
(v) Documents provided for verification of dependency, such as 1
tax returns or marriage or birth certificates; 2
(vi) Marital status; 3
(vii) Primary language spoken; 4
(viii) Tobacco use status; and 5
(ix) Tribal affiliation; and 6
(n) Information contributed by the department of licensing to the 7
data system or shared with the cosmetology licensure compact 8
commission, or member states described in the cosmetology licensure 9
compact pursuant to RCW 18.16.400. 10
(2) Upon receipt of a request for information located exclusively 11
in an employee's personnel, payroll, supervisor, or training file, 12
the agency must provide notice to the employee, to any union 13
representing the employee, and to the requestor. The notice must 14
state: 15
(a) The date of the request; 16
(b) The nature of the requested record relating to the employee;17
(c) That the agency will release any information in the record 18
which is not exempt from the disclosure requirements of this chapter 19
at least ten days from the date the notice is made; and20
(d) That the employee may seek to enjoin release of the records 21
under RCW 42.56.540. 22
NEW SECTION. Sec. 3. Section 1 of this act expires June 1, 23
2028.24
NEW SECTION. Sec. 4. Section 2 of this act takes effect June 1, 25
2028.26
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