WSR 97-07-060
ATTORNEY GENERAL OPINION
Cite as: AGO 1997 No. 2
[March 13, 1997]
public records - department of health - authority of state records committee to set
retention period for certain records produced by department of health
1. Diet information forms submitted to the Department of Health pursuant
to a federal/state program, and computer analyses generated with the
information submitted, are public records for purposes of the Public
Disclosure Act, RCW 42.17.
2. Diet information forms submitted to the Department of Health pursuant
to a federal/state program, and computer analyses generated with the
information provided, contain personal information which is exempt from
public inspection and copying; if this personal information is deleted,
the remainder of the records are subject to public disclosure.
3. Diet information forms submitted to the Department of Health pursuant
to a federal/state program, and computer analyses generated with the
information provided, generally do not meet the definition of "official
public record" contained in RCW 40.14, the Records Retention Law;
however, the Records Committee has authority to classify the records as
"official public records" if it wishes to do so.
4. The Records Committee created in RCW 40.14.050 has authority to
approve a retention schedule for agency records which permits an agency
not to retain a record for any time at all beyond the time necessary to
generate the record; or the committee may choose to require that such
records be kept for such period as the committee deems appropriate.
Requested by:
The Honorable Ralph Munro
Secretary of State
P.O. Box 40232
Olympia, WA 98504-0232