(1) A person wishing to inspect or copy public records of the district shall request in writing upon a form prescribed by the district as set forth in SLWSDC 2.35.090, and available at the district office. The form shall be presented in person at the district office during customary office hours, by first class mail to the district office, or by email. The request shall include the following information:

(2) A requestor need not state the purpose of the request. However, in an effort to clarify or prioritize a request and provide responsive documents, the public records officer may inquire about the nature or scope of the request. If the request is for a list of individuals, the public records officer is required to ask the requestor if they intend to use the records for a commercial purpose. The district is prohibited by statute from disclosing lists of individuals for commercial purposes. See RCW 42.56.070(8).

(3) The district shall assist a requestor to identify appropriately the public records requested, but if the records cannot be identified, the district shall so advise such requestor, and in the case of a formal request, shall return the formal request for resubmission by the requestor with additional description of the requested public records.

(4) Public records that are requested may not be readily available for immediate inspection. If the requested public records are not readily available, the district shall notify the requester as to when and where such records will be available. The district shall provide the public records on a partial or installment basis as they are assembled or are available for inspection or disclosure.

(5) Within five business days of receiving a public records request, the district shall respond by either (a) providing the public records for inspection or copying; (b) providing an internet address and link on the district’s website to the specific records requested; (c) acknowledging receipt of the request and providing a reasonable estimate of the time the district will require to respond to the request; (d) acknowledging receipt of the request and asking the requestor to provide clarification for a request that is unclear and provide, to the greatest extent possible, a reasonable estimate of the time the district will require to respond to the request if it is not clarified; or (e) denying the request.

(6) A public records request must be for identifiable records. A request for all or substantially all records prepared, owned, used or retained by the district is not a valid request for identifiable public records. Provided, that a request for all records regarding a particular topic or containing a particular keyword or name shall not be considered a request for all of the district’s records. If the request is unclear or does not sufficiently identify the requested records, the district may ask the requestor to clarify information the requestor is seeking. Such clarification may be requested and provided by telephone. The public records officer may revise the estimate of when records will be available. If the requestor fails to clarify the request, and the entire request is unclear, the district need not respond to it. Otherwise, the district must respond to those portions of the request that are clear.

(7) If the district does not respond in writing within five business days of receipt of the request for disclosure, the requestor should contact the public records officer to determine the reason for the failure to respond.

(8) If the requested records contain information that may affect the rights of others and may be exempt from disclosure, the public records officer may, prior to providing the records, give notice to such others whose rights may be affected by the disclosure. Such notice should be given so as to make it possible for those other persons to contact the requestor and ask him or her to revise the request, or, if necessary, seek an order from a court to prevent or limit the disclosure. The notice to the affected persons shall include a copy of the request.

(9) Some records are exempt from disclosure, in whole or in part. If the district believes that a record is exempt from disclosure and should be withheld, the public records officer will state the specific exemption and provide a brief explanation of why the record or a portion of the record is being withheld. If only a portion of a record is exempt from disclosure, but the remainder is not exempt, the public records officer will redact the exempt portions, provide the nonexempt portions, and indicate to the requestor why portions of the record are being redacted.

(10) When the inspection of the requested records is complete and all requested copies are provided, the public records officer shall indicate that the district has completed a diligent search for the requested records and made any located nonexempt records available for inspection.

(11) When the requestor: (a) withdraws the request; (b) fails to inspect the records; (c) fails to pay the deposit; (d) fails to pay for any installment(s); or (e) fails to make final payment for the requested copies, the public records officer shall close the request and indicate to the requestor that the district has closed the request.

(12) If, after the district has informed the requestor that it has provided all available records, the district becomes aware of additional public records existing at the time of the request that are responsive to the request, it shall promptly inform the requestor of the additional public records and make them available for inspection on an expedited basis.

(13) The district and its officials and employees are not liable for loss or damage based on release of a public record if the district official or employee acted in good faith in attempting to comply with the Act.

(14) The district is not obligated to create a new record to satisfy a records request; however, the district may, in its discretion, create such a new record to fulfill the request where it may be easier for the district to create a record responsive to the request than to collect and make available voluminous records that contain small pieces of information responsive to the request.

(15) The district is not obligated to hold current records requests open to respond to requests that may be created in the future. If a public record is created or comes into the possession of the district after a request is received by the district, it is not responsive to the request and will not be provided. A new request must be made to obtain later-created public records.

(16) The process for requesting electronic public records is the same as for requesting paper public records. When a requestor requests records in an electronic format, the public records officer shall provide the nonexempt records or portions of such records that are reasonably locatable in an electronic format that is used by the district and is generally commercially available, or in a format that is reasonably translatable from the format in which the district keeps the record.

(17) Pursuant to RCW 42.56.080(3), the district may deny a bot request because responding to multiple bot requests would cause excessive interference with other district essential functions and would be unduly costly and burdensome to the district. A “bot request” means a request for public records that the district reasonably believes was automatically generated by a computer program or script, which is one of multiple requests from a requester to the district within a 24-hour period. [Res. 783 § 1 (Exh. 1), 2019; Res. 668 § 4, 2011.]