Public Records – City of Winlock

Public records are governed by the Public Records Act [RCW 42.56] and pertains to all records prepared, owned, used or retained by any department or office of the City of Winlock, excluding the Winlock Municipal Court.

NOTE: the Public Disclosure Act is for the purpose of providing existing documentation or records, not for the purpose of gathering, sorting and/or creating new documentation. General questions specific to certain departments should be directed to the appropriate personnel.

Public Records Officer [PRO]

Penny Jo Haney, City Clerk
323 NE 1st Street
PO Box 777
Winlock, WA 98596-0777
Phone: 360-785-3811, ext. 201 | Fax: 360-785-4378
cityclerk@cityofwinlock.com

Records Request Instructions

Get started by selecting the appropriate request form below.
Public Records Request Form
Police Department Records Request Form
Municipal Court Public Records Request Form

If you have questions, please see our FAQs below or contact us.

Public Records Request Process

Within five (5) business days after the receipt of a request, the Public Records Officer will send your request to the appropriate department(s) for a search for records. After a search is conducted the Public Records Officer and/or designee will do one or more of the following:

Make the records request available for inspection and/or copying.

Acknowledge the receipt of the request and provide a reasonable time estimate of when the records request will be available.

Seek clarification if the request is unclear.

Deny the request and cite the legal exemption.

Note: The day the request is received does not count as one of the 5 days. Weekends and holidays observed by the city are also excluded in the calculation. If the requester has not received a response from the city within 5 business days from the date of filing a public records request, the requestor may contact the Public Records Officer to ensure that the records request was received by the agency.

Court Records Information

Access to judicial records is governed by court rules, federal statutes, state statutes, court orders, or case law. There are two types of judicial records addressed by court rules: Court (case) Records and Administrative Records.

Court Case Records – GR 31 case records are records that relate to in-court proceedings including case files, pleadings, and dockets.

Administrative Records – GR 31.1 administrative records are records that pertain to the management, supervision or administration of a court or judicial agency.

To request court/administrative records, fill out the Court Records Request Form. You can submit the request by emailing, mailing, or faxing to: Winlock Municipal Court municourt@cityofwinlock.com PO Box 777 Winlock, WA 98596 Fax: 360-785-4378

Fees/Payments

Here you can conveniently pay for public records/court records online by using Invoice Cloud

Invoicecloud.com/thecityofwinlock

The convenience fee charged for this service will be displayed for your review before you submit your payment. Fees are as follows:
Credit/Debit Cards 3% of the amount being paid with a minimum $2.00 charge.
E-Checks $1.95

Note: if you are not automatically redirected to Invoice Cloud, select the Payments Tab at the top of the page to be redirected to the Payments Page.

PR Fee Schedule Download

Exemptions from Disclosure

The Public Records Act provides certain types of documents and/or parts of documents are exempt from public inspection and/or copying. Below is a list of exemptions from disclosure.

Table of Public Records Act Exemptions

Court Records and Court Administrative Records are accessible to the public unless access is exempted or prohibited under GR 31, GR 31.1, GR 22, other court rules, federal statues, state statutes, court orders or case law

Table of Court Exemptions

Public Records Policy

FAQ

WHAT IS A PUBLIC RECORD?

A “public record” is any writing that is prepared, owned, used, or retained by any state or local government agency, and which contains information that relates to the conduct of government, or the performance of any governmental or proprietary function; RCW 42.56.01 (3).

The term “writing” is broadly defined to include not only traditional written records, but also photos, maps, videos, voicemails, webpage and social media content, emails, text messages and tweets; RCW 42.56.010 (4).

Records created or received by employees using privately-owned devices only qualify as public records if the employee was acting within the scope of employment.

HOW DO I REQUEST RECORDS FROM THE CITY?

Requests can be submitted by filling out completely the appropriate Public Records Request Form. That completed form can be submitted in person, by email, mail or fax.

HOW QUICKLY WILL MY REQUEST BE FULFILLED?

The City must respond within 5 business days. The response may be to provide the records, or to seek clarification on what records the requestor is looking for, but may also be to indicate a time frame within which the City may reasonably fulfill the request or provide an installment schedule.

Note: over the past few years the City has experience an unprecedented increase in the volume and complexity of Public Records Requests it receives. The City responds to each request within the time frame that reasonably and fairly allocated resources to that request.

WHAT INFORMATION SHOULD I INCLUDE IN MY REQUEST?

Include as much information as you can, such as document titles, specific dates, times, names, and case numbers. The more information provided allows City staff to more effectively locate documents pertaining to your request.

IS MY PUBLIC RECORDS REQUEST CONFIDENTIAL?

Public Records Requests received by the City are public records and are subject to disclosure upon request. This includes personal information a requestor provides to the City in making a public records request, such as name, address, email and telephone number.

WHAT IS THIRD PARTY NOTIFICATION?

If records contain information that may affect others and may be exempt from disclosure, the City may send a notice to those parties informing them of the request prior to providing the records to the requestor.

DOES THE CITY HAVE TO CREATE A DOCUMENT WHEN RESPONDING TO A SPECIFIC PUBLIC RECORDS REQUEST?

No. An Agency is not obligated to create a new record to satisfy a records request, WAC 44-14-04003 (6).

CAN THE CITY RESPOND TO MY REQUEST IN INSTALLMENTS?

Yes. When a request is made for a large number of records, the Public Records Officer (PRO) may provide access for inspection and copying in installments, if he or she reasonably determines that it would be practical to provide the records in that manner. If, within 30 days, the requestor fails to inspect the entire set of records or one or more of the installments, the PRO may stop searching for the remaining records and close the request. Likewise, if payment for an installment is not made, the PRO may stop searching for the remaining records and close the request.

WHAT HAPPENS IF I DON’T PICK UP MY REQUEST?

You have 30 days pick up or review the records within 30 days after the City notifies you the the records request is completed. If you fail to pick up or review the records within the 30-day time period (or make other arrangements) the request will be closed.

WHEN IS A PUBLIC RECORDS REQUEST CONSIDERED ABANDONED?

If a requestor fails to fulfill their obligations to inspect, pickup, respond to clarification from City staff, or make any payment in the allotted time frame, the City may consider the request abandoned and close it.