Rental Housing Ass'n v. City of Des Moines

¶1 — Washington’s Public Records Act (PRA), chapter 42.56 RCW, is a strongly-worded mandate for open government, requiring broad disclosure of public records unless the responding agency demonstrates that the record falls within a specific exemption. RCW 42.56-.070(1). When a requesting party is dissatisfied with an agency’s response to a records request, it may bring an action under the PRA but must do so “within one year of the agency’s claim of exemption or the last production of a record on a partial or installment basis.” RCW 42.56.550(6). This case presents the question of when a…