Wash. Lawmakers Go To Supreme Court To Keep Records Secret

OLYMPIA, WA — You might remember in late February 2018 when state lawmakers raced to pass a law to exempt themselves from the Washington Public Records Act (PRA). That effort failed after massive public outcry, but now the issue is before the state Supreme Court.

The Supreme Court hearing held Tuesday afternoon is the latest battle in a legal fight between the Legislature and some of the state's biggest media outlets, which have sued to get lawmakers to comply with the state's open records act.

Here's a look at what has happened so far:

In late 2017, a group of news outlets, including the Associated Press, the Seattle Times, and the Northwest News Network, sued the Legislature after lawmakers refused to release records related to budget deliberations. In January 2018, a Thurston County judge largely ruled in favor of the media outlets.

Each lawmaker's office, Judge Christopher Lanese ruled, counts as a state "agency," and is therefore subject to the Public Records Act. That would mean your local state senator or representative would have to turn over records under the PRA, just like your mayor, city council, or any local government office.

The state Legislature appealed Lanese's ruling, and that's how the matter ended up in front of the Supreme Court.

On Tuesday, Paul J. Lawrence, an attorney for the state lawmakers, said the Legislature can't be considered a "state agency" as defined by the PRA. Lawrence pointed to the state Constitution, which deems the Legislature a separate branch of government that "creates" state agencies.

Michele Earl-Hubbard, arguing on behalf of media outlets, said that the Legislature has never explicitly passed a law to exempt itself from the PRA — and when it has tried to do so, it has failed, like in February 2018.

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