STATE INVESTMENT BOARD

The purpose of this chapter ((shall be to ensure compliance by the state investment board with the provisions of chapter 42.17 RCW dealing with public records)) is to provide rules for the Washington state investment board to implement the provisions of chapter 42.56 RCW relating to public records and to ensure compliance with that chapter.

(3) "State investment board" means the board established by chapter 3, Laws of 1981. The state investment board shall hereinafter be referred to as the "board." Where appropriate, the term state investment board also refers to the staff and employees of the board.)) The definitions set forth in RCW 42.56.010 apply throughout this chapter. In addition, the definitions in this section apply throughout this chapter unless the context clearly requires otherwise.

((The state investment board is a state agency empowered to perform all duties prescribed by law with respect to the investment of trust and public funds. The administrative offices of the state investment board and its staff are located at 2100 Evergreen Park Drive S.W., Olympia, Washington.)) The Washington state investment board, created in chapter 3, Laws of 1981, is an independent board of trustees whose fiduciary responsibility is to manage retirement and public fund investments with the highest standard of professional conduct. The board's primary investment objective is to maximize returns at a prudent level of risk for the exclusive benefit of fund participants and beneficiaries.

(1) The public records manager is appointed by the executive director and is located in the operations division of the WSIB.

(2) The public records manager is in charge of the WSIB's public records program. The public records manager is responsible for the implementation of the WSIB's rules regarding the release of public records for inspection and copying, coordinating the WSIB staff in this regard, and overseeing compliance with the Public Records Act requirements in chapter 42.56 RCW.

(3) The public records manager may choose a designee to act in his or her place to carry out the responsibilities in this chapter, including processing and responding to public records requests. The WSIB's public records manager will provide the fullest assistance to requestors.

The state investment board is charged with the duty to invest certain trust and public funds, as set forth in RCW 43.84.150, and chapter 3, Laws of 1981. The board ((shall)) meets at least quarterly, at times and locations determined by the board, in order to perform its duties. All such meetings ((will)) comply with the Open Public Meetings Act.

(1) Any person wishing to inspect or copy public records of WSIB may submit the request in writing using the WSIB's request form, or by letter, fax, or e-mail addressed to the public records manager. The request should include the following information:

• Name of requestor;

• Address of requestor;

• Other contact information, including telephone number and any e-mail address;

• Identification of the public records adequate for the public records manager to locate the records; and

• The date and time of day of the request.

(2) If the requestor wishes to have copies of the records made instead of inspecting them, he or she should so indicate. Costs will be assessed in compliance with WAC 287-02-075.

(3) A request form is available for use by requestors at the office of the public records manager and online at http://www.sib.wa.gov.

(4) The public records manager may accept public records requests by telephone or in person; however, the requesting party may be asked to reduce the request to writing. In the alternative, the public records manager may confirm receipt of the request and restate the substance of the request in writing.

(1) Within five business days of receipt of the request, the public records manager will do one or more of the following:

(a) Make the records available for inspection or copying;

(b) If copies are requested and payment of a deposit for the copies, if any, is made or terms of payment are agreed upon, send the copies to the requestor;

(c) Provide a reasonable estimate of when records will be available; or

(d) If the request is unclear or does not sufficiently identify the requested records, obtain clarification from the requestor. Such clarification may be obtained and provided by telephone. The public records manager may then revise the estimate of when records will be available; or

(e) Deny the request.

(2) In the event that the requested records contain information implicating a third party's privacy or financial interest and any exemption from disclosure of that information arguably applies, the public records manager will, prior to releasing the records to the requestor, give notice to such third parties whose rights may be affected by the disclosure. Such notice is provided so as to make it possible for those third parties to seek an order from a court to prevent or limit the disclosure pursuant to RCW 42.56.540.

The notice shall inform the third party that a request has been made for a record that pertains to the third party and that the WSIB plans to disclose the record in a specified amount of time unless the third party obtains an injunction pursuant to RCW 42.56.540 blocking disclosure. The WSIB shall inform the record requestor that it is providing third-party notice.

(3) Some records are exempt from disclosure, in whole or in part. If WSIB believes that an entire record is exempt from disclosure and should be withheld, the public records manager will identify the record, state the specific exemption and provide a brief explanation of why the record or a portion of the record is being withheld. If only a portion of a record is exempt from disclosure, the public records manager will redact the exempt portions, provide the nonexempt portions, state the specific exemption and provide a brief explanation of why the portions of the record are exempt from disclosure.

(4) When the requestor either withdraws the request or fails to fulfill his or her obligations to inspect the records or pay the deposit or final payment for the requested copies, the public records manager will close the request and indicate to the requestor that WSIB has closed the request.

((All public records of the state investment board as defined in WAC 287-02-020 are deemed to be available for public inspection and copying pursuant to these rules, except as otherwise provided by RCW 42.17.370.)) Public records are available for inspection and the preparation of requested copying during the WSIB's normal business hours. For the purposes of this chapter, normal business hours of WSIB are 8:00 a.m. to noon and 1:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m., Monday through Friday, excluding legal holidays. Records must be inspected at the main office of the WSIB or other agency location as applicable.

(1) Consistent with other demands, WSIB will provide space to inspect public records. No member of the public may remove a document from the viewing area or disassemble or alter any document.

(2) After inspection is complete, the requestor shall identify which documents he or she wishes the agency to copy. Consistent with other demands and the volume of documents requested, WSIB may copy the document at that time or provide the copies to the requestor at a later date.

(3) Within thirty days of the WSIB's notification that the records are available for inspection or copying, the requestor must claim or review the assembled records. The agency will notify the requestor in writing of this requirement and inform the requestor that he or she should contact the agency to make arrangements to claim or review the records. If the requestor or a representative of the requestor fails to claim or review the records within the thirty-day period or make other arrangements, the WSIB may close the request and refile the assembled records. If the requestor makes a request for the same records, it will be processed as a new request.

(4) When the inspection of the requested records is complete and all requested copies are provided, the public records manager will indicate that WSIB has completed its search for the requested records and made any nonexempt records available for inspection.

(1) The WSIB will maintain its records in a reasonably organized manner. The WSIB will take reasonable actions to protect records from damage and disorganization. A requestor shall not take WSIB records from WSIB offices without the permission of the public records manager. A variety of records is available on the WSIB web site at (www.sib.wa.gov). Requestors are encouraged to view the documents available on the web site prior to submitting a records request.

(2) Records will be made available to the requestor subject to the following restrictions:

(a) The records may not be removed from the area designated;

(b) The quantity of records may be limited in accordance with the requested use;

(c) All possible care will be taken by the requestor to prevent damage to the records;

(d) Records may not be marked, altered, cut or mutilated in any way;

(e) Use of liquids and fountain pens and eating, drinking, and smoking while utilizing the records is prohibited;

(f) Records shall not be defaced in any way including writing on, folding or folding anew if in folded form, tracing or fastening with clips or other fasteners except those that may already exist in the file;

(g) Records must be kept in the order in which received;

(h) All copying of records will be done by WSIB personnel; and

(i) Records will be returned to the public records manager by the requestor when no longer required and no later than the end of the customary office hours as set forth in WAC 287-02-035.

(1) When a response to a public records request is complex or involves a large number of records, the public records manager may provide access for inspection and copying in installments pursuant to RCW 42.56.080.

(2) The requestor will be notified when an installment is ready for inspection. If, within thirty days, the requestor fails to inspect the entire set of records or one or more of the installments, the public records manager may close the request.

(3) When the request is for copies of public records, the public records manager may require payment for each installment either prior to providing the installment or prior to providing subsequent installments. In addition, the requestor may be required to provide a deposit up to ten percent of the estimated cost of copying all records selected by the requestor. If the requestor fails to pay the required cost within thirty days, the public records manager may close the request.

(1) The process for requesting electronic public records is the same as for requesting paper public records.

(2) When a requestor requests records in an electronic format, the public records manager will provide available nonexempt electronic public records or portions of such records that are reasonably locatable in an electronic format that is used by the agency and is generally commercially available, or in a format that is reasonably translatable from the format in which the agency keeps the record, or as otherwise agreed to between the requestor and the public disclosure manager.

(3) Whenever possible, WSIB will provide records in electronic format. If the WSIB has only a paper copy of the record, the WSIB, when feasible, may scan the paper record and provide the resulting electronic copy to the requestor. If the WSIB maintains the record in electronic format, the record will be provided in the maintained electronic format unless the requestor specifically asks to receive the record in paper copies or it is otherwise not feasible to provide the record in electronic format.

(4) If a record exists on a web page, WSIB will respond to a request for the record by providing the link to the record on the web page.

(5) WSIB is not required to create a record that does not otherwise exist.

(6) Costs for providing electronic records as provided in this section are governed by WAC 287-02-075.

((Public records shall be available for inspection and copying during the customary office hours of the state investment board. For the purposes of this chapter, the customary office hours shall be from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., Monday through Friday excluding legal holidays.)) (1) WSIB reserves the right to determine that a public record requested is exempt, in whole or in part, under the provisions of chapter 42.56 RCW or other applicable provision of law.

(1) There is no fee for inspecting public records. WSIB may impose a charge for providing public records. WSIB will maintain a fee schedule on its web site.

(2) The charge for providing public records may be the actual cost incident to providing the records.

(a) The charge may include the actual cost of the postage or delivery, including the cost of the shipping container, cost of duplicating tape recordings, videotapes, photographs, slides, disks or similar media.

(b) There will be no charge for e-mailing electronic records to a requestor, unless another cost applies.

(3) If determining the actual cost is too burdensome or if the cost cannot be determined, WSIB may charge fifteen cents for each page, however produced.

(4) Before beginning to copy public records, the public records manager may require:

(a) A deposit of up to ten percent of the estimated costs of copying all the records selected by the requestor;

(b) The payment of the remainder of the copying costs before providing all the records; or

(c) The payment of the costs of copying an installment before providing that installment. The WSIB will not charge sales tax when it makes copies of public records.

(5) Payment may be made by cash in the exact amount charged, check, or money order to the Washington state investment board.

(2) In all cases in which a member of the public is making a request, it shall be the obligation of the public records officer or staff member to whom the request is made to assist the member of the public in appropriately identifying the public record requested.)) (1)(a) Any person who has been denied an opportunity to inspect or copy a public record by the WSIB or who believes that the WSIB has not made a reasonable estimate of the time required to respond to a public record request may petition the WSIB for prompt review of its decision.

(1) The state general records retention schedule and the WSIB's unique records retention schedule, as established and approved by the state records committee, serve as the index for the identification and location of the WSIB's records, including those described in RCW 42.56.070(5).

(2) The current index, as described in subsection (1) of this section, is available to all persons under the same rules and on the same conditions as are applied to public records available for inspection. The index can be found on the WSIB web site at http://www.sib.wa.gov.

((No fee shall be charged for the inspection of public records. The board shall charge a fee for copying public records not to exceed 50 cents per page. This charge is the amount necessary to reimburse the board for its actual costs incident to such copying.)) All communications with WSIB to access public records of the WSIB or seek assistance in making such a request, or for the purpose of obtaining information, making submittals or requests, or making inquiries concerning the agency's rules for compliance with chapter 42.56 RCW shall be addressed as follows: