PORT ANGELES — In order to handle a growing number of public records requests, Clallam County officials are debating whether or not — and how — to fund a dedicated public records officer.
“In short, we feel that based upon the ever-increasing number and complexity of public records requests that have been made to Clallam County and its several departments that the time has come to fund such a position,” Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Mark Nichols told the three commissioners on Monday.
Staff from the Prosecuting Attorney’s Office, County Auditor’s Office, Human Resources and Information Technology departments met with commissioners and County Administrator Jim Jones on Monday to discuss the funding of a full-time public records officer and a legal secretary.
“Ultimately, we feel this will help the agency comply with the update of the Public Records Act, and further, it will fill a need and allow us to more efficiently respond to what has become an ever popular public service that is being requested.”
While most are legitimate, Commissioner Mike Chapman said some public records requests are frivolous. He said one person threatened to grind District Court to a halt with public records requests.
“They’re coming from members of the public — no particular group,” he said.
1,000 requests annually
Nichols estimated that Clallam County is “probably at or near 1,000 requests per year.”
He said the Prosecuting Attorney’s Office alone processed or assisted in processing 318 requests last year.
“This is a dramatic leap from years past,” Nichols said.
“The sad reality is that there are people out there, I believe, who are simply trying to ensnare the county and other public agencies in violation of the act as a means through which to make money.
“Their attorneys are doing a great job at doing that to make a living, and I’d rather not see them make a living on our dime.”
Jones estimated that it would cost $77,598 to fund a deputy prosecuting attorney dedicated to public records requests and $49,836 for the full-time legal assistant.
“Right now I think it’s a forgone conclusion that we are going to lose money at some point in the near future because of the haphazard way of how we’re dealing with public records requests,” Jones said.
County Auditor Patty Rosand is the official public records officer in Clallam County.
“It’s Jan. 25, and I have 95 public records requests on my desk right now,” Rosand said.
“I don’t feel that the auditor is the correct department to be the public records officer. Most of the requests are to do with lawsuits,” she said.
“I don’t have the knowledge of what’s going in [human resources] and in the prosecutor’s office to handle those requests, so I rely very heavily on Mark’s ability to weed through these requests before I make any type of response.”
No action taken
No action was taken on the issue this week. The board directed Jones to work with county staff to come up with a hybrid position that would cost less than $127,434 per year.
“I don’t think any of us politically discount the need or the ability for citizens to access information,” Commissioner Steve Tharinger said.
“The question is when that becomes a tool to disrupt the function of government. They are frivolous and their purpose is not just for information for a public issue but more a disruptive process.”
Jones said counties across the state are struggling with responding to public records requests under tight budgets.
“I believe this is an important thing to figure out a way to get done,” Jones said.
Nichols said the Prosecuting Attorney’s Office and other county departments are being “strained and stretched to the max” by the burden of the public information requests.
Interfering with other work
“The time that this takes to respond to these requests is getting to the point where, quite frankly, it’s interfering with our ability to perform our otherwise statutorily mandated functions within the prosecutor’s office,” Nichols said.
“There have been consistent complaints because of the volume of workload we have about responding to different substantiative legal matters,” Clallam County Prosecuting Attorney Deb Kelly added.
“I don’t think this is frankly a good use of Mark’s time and skills, but that is where it has kind of defaulted to by necessity.”
Sheriff Bill Benedict said he opposed funding for a public records officer.
“I think we ought to study it,” he said.
“We should put pressure on the Legislature to come up with legislation to protect us from most of the frivolous issues that are coming up.”
Benedict said there’s simply isn’t enough money in the county budget.
“I hate to say it, but these are the same dollars that I’d be competing for to get back some of the positions that I’ve giving up,” he said.
Sheriff: Requests routine
Benedict said most of the information requests that the Sheriff’s Office receives are routine — things like case reports or requests from crime victims and attorneys.
“We have not seen a huge uptick in public disclosure requests, at least in the three years since I’ve been sheriff,” Benedict said.
“It may well be that this is something that makes sense, but I would urge that we explore all other options and maybe look for some relief before we create two positions.”
Commissioner Mike Doherty said he has discussed the issue with state Rep. Lynn Kessler, D-Hoquiam, who represents the 24th District — Clallam, Jefferson and part of Grays Harbor counties — and other state officials. He said public records eventually will be electronic and more assessable to citizens.
“But they’re not ready to fund something uniformly across the state yet, so every county has a headache with this,” Doherty said.
“Jefferson [County], at times, has had three people working on this issue. So it could be worse.”
The Clallam County commissioners’ office recently put its agenda documents on the county’s Web site, www.clallam.net.
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Reporter Rob Ollikainen can be reached at 360-417-3537 or at rob.ollikainen@peninsuladailynews.com.
