The 2019 public records data reported by public agencies to the Joint Legislative Audit & Review Committee (JLARC) is now available.
RCW 40.14.026 requires agencies with public records costs that exceed $100,000 annually to report to JLARC on a variety of performance metrics including information on cost, staff time,
and response time. Cities that spend less than $100,000 annually on public records have the option to report their data to JLARC.
Cities made up 65 of the 207 reporting agencies.
Below are highlights from the initial report. JLARC will provide a full report and dashboard in January 2021.
Total requests received by cities: 130,859
- Average: 2,013
- Median: 1,086
Total requests closed within five days: 78,973
- Average: 1,215
- Median: 683
Estimated staff time responding to requests: 462,830 hours
- Average: 7,120 hours
- Median: 1,686 hours
Estimated total costs managing public records (staff, system, and service costs): $53,710,242
- Average: $826,311
- Median: $174,037
Estimated expenses recovered: $77,770
- Average: $1,196
- Median: $256
Total claims against reporting cities: 20
Estimated litigation costs: $6,263,967