Body camera bill passes, but no others

AWC’s priority bill on body cameras passed, but there were no other significant public records changes for cities this year.

SB 6408 passed with strong support in both chambers. The bill provides a clear statutory framework for cities seeking to implement a body camera program in a law enforcement agency. Importantly, the bill provides local governments a good faith protection against public records fines and fees.

After being rebuked in their pursuit of legislative public records, a coalition of records requestors and media interests sued the Legislature in 2017 seeking relief under the Public Records Act (PRA). The trial court ruled that the Legislature is subject to the PRA and the records should be released. In response, the Legislature passed a new set of public records laws for themselves and also exempted the legislative branch from the PRA; but the bill, SB 6617, was vetoed by the Governor. The coalition seeking judicial relief have agreed to stay their lawsuit while a taskforce is convened. Membership of the task force includes members of the media, the requestor community, the Legislature, the Governor’s Office, and more. AWC and other local government stakeholders have offered our assistance with their efforts.

AWC’s next steps

AWC will:

• Monitor and engage with the legislative public records taskforce; and
• Participate in Sunshine Committee meetings.