(1) After the filing of any complaint, except as provided in RCW
42.52.450, the staff of the appropriate ethics board shall investigate the complaint. The ethics board may request the assistance of the office of the attorney general or a contract investigator in conducting its investigation.
(2) The results of the investigation shall be reduced to writing and the staff shall either make a determination that the complaint should be dismissed pursuant to RCW
42.52.425, or recommend to the board that there is or that there is not reasonable cause to believe that a violation of this chapter or rules adopted under it has been or is being committed.
(3) The board's determination on reasonable cause shall be provided to the complainant and to the person named in such complaint.
(4) The identity of a person filing a complaint under RCW
42.52.410(1) is exempt from public disclosure, as provided in RCW
42.56.240.