Tekoa faces Public Records Request suit

TEKOA – A lawsuit has been filed against The City of Tekoa by Eric Hood, Langley, Wash., alleging that the city withheld requested records from a public records request in April 2019.

The state Public Records Act requires that all public records maintained by state and local agencies are made available to all members of the public.

The complaint states that Hood emailed the Tekoa Clerk on April 22, 2019, requesting all records the city received from the state auditor, after being recently audited, and all records of any response to the audit or the audit report.

Hood didn’t receive a reply until May 3, 2019, containing the State Auditor’s Office 48-page financial statements audit report of the City of Tekoa.

State and local government agencies are required by RCW 42.56.520 to respond to a public records request within five business days of receiving the request. Additional time may be allowed to respond to a request either to clarify the intent of the request, locate and assemble the information requested or to notify third parties or agencies affected by the request.

Hood has a history of suing over the Public Records Act. According to the Chinook Observer, Hood has filed at least 33 lawsuits across the state since 2012.

“There are a couple of individuals across the state that are examples of abusive actions towards the Public Records Act,” said County Commission Chair Michael Largent. “They prey on people, taxpayers and small government jurisdictions.”

Hood is asking that the court order the city to promptly respond to his request, including producing all non-exempt records, and disclosing all exempt records, providing a brief explanation for any withholding; award all costs, including reasonable attorney fees incurred in connection with this legal action to Hood; award a monetary penalty for each day that Hood was denied the right to inspect and copy each record requested, and any such relief the court may deem just, equitable and proper under the circumstances.

The Whitman County Gazette contacted Hood, but he declined to make a comment on the record.

Hood recently received a $10,000 settlement with the City of Pullman at the end of 2019. Pullman city officials agreed to pay Hood the settlement fee to file for permanent dismissal of his case.

It is reported that Hood has received multiple settlements in the past including $12,500 from Mount Vernon School District, $30,000 from North Kitsap School District and $7,150 from South Whidbey School District for not producing requested documents fast enough.

In Washington, if someone is to file a public records request, if the requesting person wants to inspect the records on site or if the records are provided by a web link, the agency cannot charge a fee. If the agency provides the requestor with copies of public records, the agency can charge for those copies pursuant to its adopted fee schedule.

According to the State Auditor’s Office, a recent performance audit of Washington’s state and local governments found that governments spent more than $60 million fulfilling public records requests ― more than 90 percent of which was staff time.

Largent said he is hopeful that at the state level they would see the effects of this use of the Public Records Act and they would do something to reform the current act.