Belenski v. Jefferson County

¶1 Washington’s Public Records Act (PRA), chapter 42.56 RCW, allows citizens broad access to public records and provides a cause of action to challenge inadequate responses to records requests. When Mike Belenski requested certain records from Jefferson County (County), the County responded that it had “no responsive records.” Clerk’s Papers (CP) at 214. Over two years later, Belenski sued the County, asserting that this response violated the PRA because the County did in fact have such records and failed to make the proper disclosures. The Court of Appeals dismissed this claim as time barred…