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August 27,2004
Les Powers
Powers & Therrien, P.S.
3502 Tieton Drive
Yakima, WA 98902
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 Perron-Kossow, Victim Witness Ad
Re: Public Records requests dated August 18, 2004 and August 25, 2004
Dear Mr. Powers:
You sent two e-mails, one dated August 18,2004 at 10:50 AM, the other dated
August 25, 2004 at 8:24 AM. These e-mails indicated that you were making a
continuing, prospective request for public records, specifically on August 18 you asked
for "permit applications from PLA ... .from July I, 2004 forward." In that same e-mail
you asked for copies of all PLA-County correspondence (no matter who initiated them)
"when such correspondence is sent or received." The August 25 e-mail confirmed that
you wanted the documents that Mr. Gendler wanted. Mr. Gendler has made a similar
prospective request. Copies of those e-mails are attached and you have a copy of my
letter to Mr. Gendler of this date, which explains why his request is prospective in nature.
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
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RCW 42.17.020(36). Put another way, a record generated or received on September 25,
2004, for example, did not exist at the time of your request dated August 25,2004. Thus,
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, your various e-mails will be and are being treated as requests
for public records in existence as of that date. You should already possess a letter dated
August 25,2004 from DCD enclosing lists of permits requested and granted and asking
you to narrow down which permit files you want to either inspect or have copied. Please
respond to that letter. Ahead of this letter I sent you responsive documents totaling 85
pages.
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 PLA, Mr. Gendler and Mr. Loomis, all of whom
have also made prospective or perpetual public records requests.
Very truly yours,
~~ez~
Chief Civil Deputy Prosecuting Attorney
Enclosure
Cc: Bert Loomis (w/o Ene.)
Mickey Gendler (w/o Ene.)
Marco de Sa e Silva, attorney for PLA (w/o Ene.)
Greg McCarry, PLA (w/o Enc.)
County Commission (wlEnc.)
John Fischbach, County Administrator (w/o Enc.)
Lorna Delaney, Clerk to the BoCC (wlEnc.)
Al Scalf, DCD Director (w/o Ene.)
..II.IIl~~i"Ul.CD (w/o Ene.)
RoseAnn Carroll, DCD (wlEnc.)
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