“Og-blog” stands for “open-government blog” and that’s what we do: tell people about open-government issues of interest to regular citizens, media, trade associations, and government agencies. We find interesting stories and court cases from Washington State and other places about the Public Records Act, Open Public Meetings Act, access-to-court rulings, and media law.
Thursday, August 23, 2007
Great Public Records Act Court Decision: Zink v. City of Mesa
Today the Court of Appeals issued a decision in Zink v. City of Mesa. It holds that there is no limit to the number of requests a person may make. It also holds that an agency must actually properly respond to each request; "substantial compliance" (that is, "we sorta tried") is not enough. The bottom line of Zink: an agency must respond to public records requests even if doing so is a hassle. It's the law. See RCW 42.56.550(3): "Courts shall take into account the policy of [the Act] that free and open examination of public records is in the public interest, even though such examination may cause inconvenience or embarrassment to public officials or others." (emphasis added).