Yakima County Sued For Not Providing Jail Records

The Yakima Herald-Republic reports that Yakima County has been sued for not providing public records relating to a death in its jail. The requestor claims the County did not respond to the request; the County says it did.

If the County really did fail to provide a response, the County is toast. As the court in Smith v. Okanogan County, 100 Wn. App. 7, 13, 994 P.2d 857 (2000) held, "When an agency fails to respond as provided in RCW [42.56.520], it violates the act and the individual requesting the public record is entitled to a statutory penalty."