| Passed by the House February 28, 2003 Yeas 97 ________________________________________ Speaker of the House of Representatives Passed by the Senate April 16, 2003 Yeas 48 ________________________________________ President of the Senate | I, Cynthia Zehnder, Chief Clerk of the House of Representatives of the State of Washington, do hereby certify that the attached is SUBSTITUTE HOUSE BILL 1153 as passed by the House of Representatives and the Senate on the dates hereon set forth. ________________________________________ Chief Clerk | |
| Approved ________________________________________ Governor of the State of Washington | Secretary of State State of Washington |
| State of Washington | 58th Legislature | 2003 Regular Session |
READ FIRST TIME 02/11/03.
AN ACT Relating to the confidential nature of public records transferred to the state archives; and amending RCW 40.14.030.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:
Sec. 1 RCW 40.14.030 and 1957 c 246 s 3 are each amended to read
as follows:
(1) All public records, not required in the current operation of
the office where they are made or kept, and all records of every
agency, commission, committee, or any other activity of state
government which may be abolished or discontinued, shall be transferred
to the state archives so that the valuable historical records of the
state may be centralized, made more widely available, and insured
permanent preservation: PROVIDED, That this section shall have no
application to public records approved for destruction under the
subsequent provisions of this chapter.
When so transferred, copies of the public records concerned shall
be made and certified by the archivist, which certification shall have
the same force and effect as though made by the officer originally in
charge of them. Fees may be charged to cover the cost of reproduction.
In turning over the archives of his office, the officer in charge
thereof, or his successor, thereby loses none of his rights of access
to them, without charge, whenever necessary.
(2) Records that are confidential, privileged, or exempt from
public disclosure under state or federal law while in the possession of
the originating agency, commission, board, committee, or other entity
of state or local government retain their confidential, privileged, or
exempt status after transfer to the state archives unless the
archivist, with the concurrence of the originating jurisdiction,
determines that the records must be made accessible to the public
according to proper and reasonable rules adopted by the secretary of
state, in which case the records may be open to inspection and
available for copying after the expiration of seventy-five years from
creation of the record. If the originating jurisdiction is no longer
in existence, the archivist shall make the determination of
availability according to such rules. If, while in the possession of
the originating agency, commission, board, committee, or other entity,
any record is determined to be confidential, privileged, or exempt from
public disclosure under state or federal law for a period of less than
seventy-five years, then the record, with the concurrence of the
originating jurisdiction, must be made accessible to the public upon
the expiration of the shorter period of time according to proper and
reasonable rules adopted by the secretary of state.