(1) Public Records Act exemptions. The Public Records Act, chapter 42.56 RCW, exempts from inspection or copying certain categories of records as set forth in the Public Records Act or under other statutes. The public records officer will disclose the existence of exempt records as required by law, but may deny the inspection or copying of such records to the extent that the records are exempt from inspection or copying under the Public Records Act or other applicable law.

(2) Commonly applied exemptions. The public records office maintains an exemption key explaining the exemptions most commonly applied by the college in processing requests for public records. A copy of the exemption key can be requested from the public records officer and will typically be provided by the records officer in responding to a request for records that are determined in whole or in part to be exempt from inspection or copying.

(3) Determining applicable exemptions. The public records officer may seek information from the requestor sufficient to determine whether another statute prohibits disclosure of the requested records. For example, student education records generally may not be disclosed to third parties without the student's written consent.