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Juelanne Dalzell
JEFFERSON COUNTY PROSECUTING ATTORNEY
Courthouse - P.O. Box 1220
Port Townsend, Washington 98368
Telephone (360) 385-9180 FAX (360) 385-0073
David W. Alvarez, Deputy Prosecutor
Tracey L. Lassus, Deputy Prosecutor
John Raymond, Deputy Prosecutor
D. Geral Barnhart, Deputy Prosecutor
Lianne :i>erron-Kossow, Victim Witness Advocate
Re: Public Records request dated August 4, 2004
August 27, 2004
Marco de Sa e Silva
Davis, Wright & Tremaine
2600 Century Square
1501 Fourth Avenue
Seattle, W A 98101-1688
Dear Mr. Sa e Silva:
You sent a letter dated August 4, 2004 to the County's Department of Community
Development. In that letter you asked that copies of all "agreements, correspondence ...
and other documents relating to the applications ofPLA ... dated or received by Jefferson
County on or after August 1,2004." That sentence indicates to me that you were making
a continuing, prospective request for public records.
The Public Disclosure Act requires that any local government make public records
available for public inspection and copying. See RCW 42.17.260 and RCW 42.17.270.
County records are made available for inspection and copying once they are created. You
(or someone on your behalf) are welcome to make an appointment to review specified
identifiable records at our offices during normal business hours. We will also mail you
identifiable public records with a voucher for payment in the amount of 15 cents per page
plus postage.
However, under RCW 42.17.270 public agencies are required only to honor
requests for "identifiable pubic records". Until documents are created or arrive at a
County office (if an applicant sends them in) they are neither in ''writing,'' nor an
"identifiable record" and thus are not "public records," as that term of art is defined at
RCW 42.17.020(36). Put another way, a record generated or received on September 4,
2004, for example, did not exist at the time of your request dated August 4, 2004. Thus,
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at the time of any prospective request (including yours) there can be no documents in
existence that would be responsive to anyone's request for future records.
In light of the above, since it is now 23 days past the date of your public records
request, this office will consider itself in compliance with this request, although other
County departments may have records to send you that comply with your request dated
August 4, 2004.
You are, of course, free to renew your public records request (or make any other
request) in writing in the future.
Any future public records request that is prospective or perpetual in nature will not
be responded to in that manner. Instead, the County's response to such a request will
provide you with responsive and non-exempt documents in existence on or BEFORE the
date of that particular request.
Similar letters are being sent to Mr. Powers, Mr. Gendler and Mr. Loomis, all of
whom have also made prospective or perpetual public records requests.
cO:10=~
David Alvarez ~
Chief Civil Deputy Prosecuting Attorney
Enclosure
Cc: Bert Loomis (w/o Ene.)
Mickey Gendler (w/o Enc.)
Les Powers (w/o Enc.)
Greg McCarry, PLA (w/o Enc.)
County Commission (w/Enc.)
John Fischbach, County Administrator (w/o Ene.)
Lorna Delaney, Clerk to the BoCC (w/Enc.)
Al Scalf, DCD Director (w/o Ene.)
"" CD (w/o Ene.)
RoseAnn Carroll, DCD (w/Enc.)
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