| Passed by the House March 13, 2007 Yeas 94 ________________________________________ Speaker of the House of Representatives Passed by the Senate April 12, 2007 Yeas 44 ________________________________________ President of the Senate | I, Richard Nafziger, Chief Clerk of the House of Representatives of the State of Washington, do hereby certify that the attached is SUBSTITUTE HOUSE BILL 1897 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 | 60th Legislature | 2007 Regular Session |
READ FIRST TIME 2/28/07.
AN ACT Relating to disclosure of attorney invoices; and creating a new section.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:
NEW SECTION. Sec. 1 It is the intent of the legislature to
clarify that no reasonable construction of chapter 42.56 RCW has ever
allowed attorney invoices to be withheld in their entirety by any
public entity in a request for documents under that chapter. It is
further the intent of the legislature that specific descriptions of
work performed be redacted only if they would reveal an attorney's
mental impressions, actual legal advice, theories, or opinions, or are
otherwise exempt under this act or other laws, with the burden upon the
public entity to justify each redaction and narrowly construe any
exception to full disclosure. The legislature intends to clarify that
the public's interest in open, accountable government includes an
accounting of any expenditure of public resources, including through
liability insurance, upon private legal counsel or private consultants.