Governor: Open electronic records

By Brad Shannon | The Olympian • Published September 22, 2007

Gov. Chris Gregoire has ordered state agencies to be more responsive to requests for electronic records kept by government.

The governor sent a directive to state agency directors this week asking for more compliance. However, she also said at least one court has said Washington's Public Records Act law does not require government to produce electronic copies of public records and that few states have addressed electronic records in their disclosure laws.

"Today, regardless of the technical requirements of the Act, I am asking all state agency public records officers to work with people who request electronic copies of non-exempt public records and, whenever possible, to satisfy these requests," Gregoire wrote.

Advocates for open government welcomed the announcement, which came amid criticism of the governor's stance on records. She had appointed Tom Carr to lead a "Sunshine Committee" examining exemptions in disclosure law, and her staff initially had refused to release the names of applicants who were not chosen for the panel.

"It proves that agencies don't have to wait for the Legislature to act in order to do the right thing," said Toby Nixon, president of the Washington Coalition for Open Government.

"If I'm allowed to speculate, I'm betting the governor was a bit shaken up by the media reaction" to the Carr appointment and the refusal to release applicants' names, Nixon added.

Brad Shannon is political editor for The Olympian. He can be reached at 360-753-1688 or bshannon@theolympian.com.