Public Records Metric Guidance

JLARC Public Records Data Reporting

Provided by staff to the Joint Legislative Audit and Review Committee

Last updated: January 2024

JLARC Public Records Website | JLAR[email protected]

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

• What has changed since the last reporting cycle?

• Which agencies are required to report?

o What is an “agency”

o How to determine whether an agency meets the $100,000 threshold

• Data quality is the responsibility of each reporting agency

• General guidance

• Specific guidance

• Signing into the public records data collection site

Metric guidance

• Baseline data

o Metric 1

o Metric 2

o Metric 3

o Metric 4

o Metric 5

o Metric 6

o Metric 7

o Metric 8

o Metric 9

o Metric 10

o Metric 11

o Metric 12

o Metric 13

o Metric 14

o Metric 15

• Overview of metrics

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In 2017, the state Legislature directed certain state and local agencies to report annually on performance

metrics related to public records retention, management, and disclosure. The Joint Legislative Audit and

Review Committee (JLARC) is responsible for providing a method for reporting, and for establishing

standardized metrics for these reporting requirements.

Pursuant to this legislative directive, JLARC, in consultation with state and local agencies, has created

guidance for agencies to follow when reporting their public records data. JLARC is providing this

comprehensive handbook to be used by the public records professionals and others in state and local

agencies who will be responsible for documenting the information that is submitted to JLARC annually.

A companion document titled Public Records Reporting System Guidance

is also available. It provides detailed

guidance on how to submit the data through JLARC’s data collection system. This companion document, along

with additional agency resources, can be found on

JLARC’s website.

WHAT HAS CHANGED SINCE THE LAST REPORTING CYCLE?

Clarification has been made to Metric 7, Metric 12, and Metric 13. Metric reporting requirements are

unchanged.

All fields are required to submit data to JLARC.

WHICH AGENCIES ARE REQUIRED TO REPORT?

Each state and local agency with at least $100,000 of staff and legal costs associated with fulfilling public

records requests in the preceding calendar year is required to report; state and local agencies that spent less

than $100,000 may voluntarily submit reports. [See RCW 40.14.026(5)

]

What is an “agency”

According to the Public Records Act (PRA), "State agency" includes every state office, department, division,

bureau, board, commission, or other state agency. "Local agency" includes every county, city, town, municipal

corporation, quasi-municipal corporation, or special purpose district, or any office, department, division,

bureau, board, commission, or agency thereof, or other local public agency. [RCW 42.56.010(1)

]

In most cases, it is clear whether an organization is considered an “agency” for the purposes of the PRA. In

some cases, however, it may be less apparent. For example, each city is considered a separate agency.

However, a county may be comprised of several “agencies” as each separately elected official may control an

independent department that would qualify as an agency. In that case each of the separate county agencies

would make its own determination about whether it meets the $100,000 threshold for required reporting.

How to determine whether an agency meets the $100,000 threshold

To determine whether an agency meets the $100,000 spending threshold, the agency should consider the

following cost components:

• Public records staff compensation. This typically includes Public Records Officers (PROs) and other

staff whose duties as set forth in their job description specifically include responding to public records

requests. Costs should include the base wages and benefits per FTE, based on the percent of their

time spent on public records requests. Once a total amount for base wages and benefits is identified,

an assumed overhead rate should be applied to generate a total staff compensation cost.

• Staff compensation for staff for whom responding to public records is not a primary duty. It is

important to capture an estimate of the cost attributable to other staff who participate in identifying

records for disclosure. In most organizations today, properly assisting in the response to records

requests is a responsibility shared by most staff, not just the public records officers. Agencies that

have not kept detailed timekeeping for staff for whom public records is not a primary duty should use

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a reasonable estimating methodology to establish a cost estimate for this work. For example, a

random sampling of public records requests could be selected for detailed timekeeping and the

resulting information then could be used to extrapolate. As with the staff compensation above, these

costs should include base wages, benefits, and an assumed overhead rate.

• Legal costs associated with responding to public records. This includes the costs incurred through the

use of outside counsel or in-house chargebacks to advise on exemptions, review responses, etc. Costs

incurred in responding to litigation do not need to be included in determining whether the agency has

met the $100,000 reporting threshold. If the agency is reporting, however, that data will be needed to

respond to one of the performance metrics.

In effort to make it easier for agencies to complete this reporting threshold analysis, JLARC has prepared a

simple Excel-based calculation worksheet. This worksheet is available on JLARC’s website

. Use of this

worksheet is completely discretionary and is provided only as a tool. This is for your agency’s internal use only.

Agencies will only be required to indicate whether they do, or do not, meet the $100,000 reporting threshold

and, for those agencies who have not exceeded the $100,000 reporting threshold, whether they will report

voluntarily. Each agency will log into the JLARC reporting system and indicate one of the following:

• Met the $100,000 threshold and will be reporting. The agency spent $100,000 or more responding

to public records requests during the reporting period and will submit a report.

• Did not meet the $100,000 threshold and will be voluntarily reporting. The agency did not spend

more than $100,000 responding to public records requests during the reporting period, however the

agency will voluntarily submit a report.

• Did not meet the $100,000 threshold and will not report. The agency did not spend more than

$100,000 responding to public records requests during the reporting period, therefore, the agency is

not subject to the annual reporting requirement.

DATA QUALITY IS THE RESPONSIBILITY OF EACH REPORTING AGENCY

JLARC will be collecting the data reported and providing a method for the public and the Legislature to view

and analyze the data. JLARC will not, however, be auditing the accuracy of the data submitted. Each agency is

ultimately responsible for the accuracy and completeness of its annual reported data. It is therefore essential

for agencies to take steps to ensure they are adequately tracking all the information necessary to complete

the annual report sections detailed below. Agencies that use a tracking or case management system for this

purpose are responsible for ensuring the system they are using can produce accurate data that is in

NOTE: Agencies are not required to use this worksheet, nor are they required to submit the

calculations they use to determine whether they meet the $100,000 threshold.

Agencies that will not be submitting a report for the reporting period can either:

(1) Log onto the JLARC system and indicate that they did not meet the $100,000 threshold

and will not be submitting a report

- or -

(2) Email [email protected].gov

with their reporting status indicating that they did

not meet the $100,000 threshold and will not be submitting a report

This lets JLARC know that the agency is aware of the reporting requirement and has determined

they do not need to submit a report. Without this information it is difficult for the Legislature to

determine whether agencies have complied with the reporting requirement.

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compliance with the law and this guidance. Accordingly, agencies should exercise due diligence in testing the

systems they are using to produce the data for reporting and correct any identified deficiencies.

State law requires some state and local agencies to report on numerous performance metrics regarding their

administration of the public records act each year. The successful production of each agency’s data depends

on the agency’s ability to properly track the data. This chapter is designed to provide assistance to public

records professionals and others assisting with this effort to collect data in a standardized way.

GENERAL GUIDANCE

Each agency will submit a single report: To ensure data is submitted in a consistent way, and to avoid

duplication or confusion, only one report will be accepted for each agency. Although the reporting system is

expected to be designed to accommodate edits or corrections to be made to a submitted report, multiple

reports for the same agency will not be accepted. Each agency should identify a single individual to be

responsible for that task.

Data quality: All agencies should take adequate steps to ensure that the information regarding the number of

public records requests, their status and dispositions, as well as the time spent processing them is accurate

to provide a meaningful report of such activities.

Calculating number of days: For the purposes of calculating the number of days for the report, the day the

request is received is considered “day 0.” Agencies should only count working/business days in their

calculation on the five-day response and should use calendar days for all other calculations involving dates.

Less than one day: When an agency is calculating the number of days it takes to respond to a request, the day

after the request is received is considered “day 1” of the statutory response period. If an agency receives,

processes, and responds to a request all on the same day, the time it takes to do so constitutes less than one

day (<1), but it is not zero days. When calculating average days, agencies should treat <1 as a value of 1.

SPECIFIC GUIDANCE

The law specifies public records performance metrics that agencies are required to report on. Most metrics

require two or more data points in order to calculate a total (such as staff and legal costs) or to calculate an

average. The guidance below will provide the metrics being measured.

The specific data points needed to respond to the metrics are identified and additional guidance or clarifying

information is also provided as appropriate.

SIGNING INTO PUBLIC RECORDS DATA COLLECTION SITE

All users reporting public records data must create a Washington State Legislature (WSL) public account using

their work email to access the Public Records Data Collection Reporting System

. If you do not have a WSL

account, you will be prompted to create one. This is a simple process that will require you to enter your name,

email and set up a password. Detailed instructions can be found

here.

If it is the first time you have accessed the system, you will need to create a JLARC profile. This is a one-time

set up and the profile can be edited at any time (note: email addresses cannot be edited). You will be asked to

provide basic identifying information.

• Agency name

• Agency type (city, county, special district, school district, etc.)

• Name, title, and contact information of the individual responsible for Public Records Data reporting

Once in the system, you will be asked to declare your reporting status for the reporting period.

• Met the $100,000 threshold and will be reporting.

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• Did not meet the $100,000 threshold and will be reporting voluntarily.

• Did not meet the $100,000 threshold and will not be reporting.

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BASELINE DATA

For agencies that are required to submit a report or agencies submitting a report voluntarily, the following

additional baseline data will be required. The baseline data will be used to automate some of the calculations

included in the reporting tool. By automating calculations, JLARC hopes to reduce the reporting burden on

agencies and avoid calculation errors. The additional baseline data includes:

• Total number of open public records requests at the start of the reporting period

o Total number of those open requests that were closed during the reporting period

• Total number of public records requests received during the reporting period

o Total number of those public records requests received during the reporting period that were

closed during the reporting period

Once this information is provided you will begin reporting on the 15 required metrics.

NOTE: The reporting system will add this number to the fourth figure (Total number of

those public records requests received during the reporting period that were closed

during the reporting period) for a total requests closed figure used in calculations.

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METRIC 1

Number of requests where the records were provided within five days of receiving the request

RCW 42.14.026(5)(a)

This metric collects the number of requests your agency provided records to within five days of receiving the

request.

To respond to this metric an agency will need to provide the following data:

• Total number of requests during the reporting period that received records within five days.

• To respond to this question, “closed” means that all the public records requested were either:

o delivered to the requester in person, postmarked, or otherwise sent out by the agency;

o made available upon payment;

o made available for on-site review;

o made available for pickup;

o the requester was sent a response informing the requester the agency has no responsive

records or the records requested are exempt from disclosure.

NOTE: If the requested records were sent by private or public delivery service (e.g., US Postal

Service, FedEx, etc.) they may be received by the requester outside the five-day period. In-

transit days should not be included in this calculation.

“Closed” does not include requests that were provided an estimated response time (beyond the five

days) or requests that required clarification (unless, once clarified, they were completed/closed within

five days).

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METRIC 2

Number of requests where an estimated response time beyond five days was provided

RCW 42.14.026(5)(b)

To respond to this metric, agencies will need to provide the following data for requests received during the

reporting period:

• Number of public records requests received during the reporting period for which the requester was

provided an estimate of anticipated response time beyond five business days of receipt of the request.

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METRIC 3

Average and median number of days from receipt of request to the date the request is closed.

RCW 42.14.026(5)(c)

To respond to this metric, agencies will need to provide the following data:

• The total number of requests for which there was a final disposition during the reporting period.

• The total number of days to final disposition. Determining this number will require you to do the

following:

o Determine the number of days between the date the request is received and the date of final

disposition for each request for which there was a final disposition during the reporting period.

This metric can be derived from data maintained in an agency’s Public Records Requests log.

ESHB 1594, Sec. 6(4)

requires that public agencies must maintain a log that tracks, among

other data, the date each request is received and the date of final disposition of each request.

o These totals should be added together to calculate a total number of days to final disposition.

• The median number of days from receipt of request to the date the request is closed.

o The median is the "middle" of a sorted list of numbers.

o The find the median, place the numbers in value order and find the middle. Excel can do this

calculation for you. See here

for instructions on calculating a median in Excel.

For purposes of this metric, the “date of final disposition” is considered the same as the date the request is

closed. If you choose to calculate the data required for this metric using a source other than the Public

Records Request log, please calculate the number of days between the date the request is received and the

date the request is closed. (See Metric 1

for a more detailed definition of the term “closed.”)

The reporting system will calculate an average number of days to final disposition based on these two data

points.

Some agencies are concerned that a small number of unusually large records requests may result in a

skewed response to this metric. In response to requests from these agencies, we have added a text box to

allow agencies to describe any unusual activity that may have skewed the results reported for this metric. In

addition, reporting on the median days will help identify when unusually large requests may impact average

response times.

Number of days to final disposition / Number of requests closed

= Average number of days to final disposition

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METRIC 4

Total number of public records requests for which the agency formally sought additional clarification from

the requester

RCW 42.14.026(5)(d)

To respond to this metric an agency will be asked to provide the number of requests for which the agency

formally sought additional clarification from the requester.

• For the purposes of responding to this metric, include in your count only those requests where, without

further guidance from the requester, you would not be able to fulfill the request in part or in full.

o In some cases, one portion of a request may be clear, and the agency proceeds to fulfill it. But

another portion may require clarification before the agency can proceed. Requests like these

should be included in the count because the agency cannot fulfill some portion of the request

without further clarification.

• The count provided for this metric should include any request for which the agency formally sought

additional clarification made during the reporting period, regardless of when the request was received.

• The count provided for this metric should not include requests for which the agency contacted the

requester in order to provide further direction (as opposed to asking for further clarification).

o For example, if a requester has asked for a list of names, and the agency follows up with the

requester notifying them they are required to complete a form indicating the names will not be

used for commercial purposes, this would be considered providing the requester additional

direction, not seeking clarification.

• When a request is received that is unclear, some agencies will communicate to the requester that the

agency is interpreting the request to mean a certain thing and is fulfilling the request based on that

interpretation. If that interpretation is inaccurate or incomplete, the requester is asked to clarify. In an

event such as this, if the agency continues to attempt to fulfill the request based on the assumed

interpretation it should not be included.

• In most cases, “formal” request for clarification will be a written communication (e.g., email or letter.)

There may be some cases where formal clarification will be documented in some other way. For

example, if a requester provided only a phone number (no email address or physical address), the

request may be made orally and documented in a log. In such cases, please include in the count for

this metric.

An agency may seek clarification on a single request one time, or the agency may need to ask for

clarification multiple times. For the purposes of responding to this metric, it is only counted once regardless

of the number of times the requester is contacted for further clarification.

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METRIC 5

Total number of requests denied in full or in part and the most common reasons for denying requests

RCW 42.14.026(5)(e)

To respond to this metric, agencies will be asked to provide two numbers:

• Number of requests closed in the reporting period that were denied in full

o Denied in full means there are responsive records, but all records are withheld.

• Number of requests closed in the reporting period that were denied in part and/or where records

provided included one or more redactions

o Denied in part means that one or more responsive records are provided to the requester, but

one or more records are withheld.

o Where records provided included one or more redactions means that records were provided

but were redacted. For the purposes of responding to this metric, a redaction is considered a

denial of a portion of a record.

In addition, agencies will be asked to provide the agencies’ five to 10 most common reasons for denying

requests during the reporting period.

There are multiple reasons for denying a request in full. Some reasons for denials in full might include:

• A categorical exemption applies.

• The agency is prevented from disclosing records because of a court injunction.

• The request was determined to be a “bot” request.

Please do not count each individual redaction as a separate denial. If the responsive records

being provided to the requester include one or more redactions, please simply count that as

one request.

Do not include requests where there were no responsive records.

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METRIC 6

Total number of requests abandoned by requesters

RCW 42.14.026(5)(f)

To respond to this metric, agencies will be asked to provide the total number of requests abandoned by

requesters during the reporting period.

Examples of when a request may be considered abandoned include:

• The requester explicitly withdraws the request at any time during the fulfillment of the request.

• The requester fails to claim or review the records or an installment in a timely way.

• The requester fails to pay for requested files.

• The requester fails to respond to a request for clarification in a timely way.

• The requester does not timely provide a signed declaration that a list of individuals, as requested, will

not be used for a commercial purpose. (See RCW 42.56.070, Sec. 8

)

For purposes of responding to this metric, a request may be considered abandoned at any appropriate

time, up to the time when full disclosure would have been provided had not one of the examples above

occurred.

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METRIC 7

Total number of requests, by type of requester

RCW 42.14.026(5)(g)

To respond to this metric, agencies will be asked to indicate the number of requests received during the

reporting period by type of requester, to the extent known by the agency.

• The reporting system will require a breakdown of the number of requests by the following requester

types:

o Individuals

o Law firms

o Organizations / Businesses

o Insurers

o Governments

o Incarcerated persons

o Media

o Current or former employees

o Other

o Unknown / Anonymous (no information or insufficient information provided)

Agencies should only include data that is provided by the requester voluntarily, without prompting. Agencies

should not query requesters about who they are or whether they represent any type of organization to respond

to this metric.

To the extent known by your agency, if a requester is an employee but is requesting information unrelated to

his or her employment, that requester should be counted as an “individual” not an “employee.”

NOTE: The JLARC system includes a validation edit to ensure that the number of requests identified on this

chart match the total number of requests received identified in the baseline data and will alert the reporter

if there is an inconsistency.

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METRIC 8

Percent of requests fulfilled electronically compared to the percent of requests fulfilled by physical records

RCW 42.14.026(5)(h)

For the public records requests closed in the reporting period, an agency will need to provide five data points:

• Total number of requests closed in the reporting period (provided in the baseline data

)

• Total number of requests fulfilled entirely by electronic means (includes, but is not limited to, email,

memory sticks, CDs, file transfer sites, links to on-line documents, etc.)

• Total number of requests fulfilled entirely by providing physical records

• Total number of requests fulfilled by a combination of electronic means and physical records

• Total number of requests closed where there were no responsive records, or the request was closed

for some other reason without being fulfilled.

A request is “fulfilled” when an agency makes the records available for inspection, pick-up, or delivery by

some other means upon payment. If a requester abandons a request by not coming to inspect or paying for

the records, the request is still considered fulfilled for purposes of this metric.

Agencies will only need to provide totals. The JLARC system will be designed to calculate the percentages

automatically.

Requests that are fulfilled by inspection of records should be included in the categories listed, based on how

they are provided for inspection. For example:

• Paper records that are provided for inspection would be included in the “total number of requests

fulfilled entirely by providing physical records.”

• If the requester asks that some of these paper records be scanned in and produced by the agency

after inspection is complete, count the request as “fulfilled by a combination of electronic means and

physical records.”

• However, if paper records are produced for inspection, and the requester photographs or scans the

document into their personal scanner, count the request as “fulfilled entirely by providing physical

records.”

NOTE: When totaled, these last four data points should equal the “total number of requests closed during

the reporting period” provided in the baseline data. The JLARC system is expected to provide a flag if these

numbers do not match to alert the reporter that there is an inconsistency.

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METRIC 9

Total number of requests where one or more physical records were scanned to create an electronic version

to fulfill disclosure

RCW 42.14.026(5)(i)

To respond to this metric, an agency will need to provide the number of requests closed during the reporting

period that involved the scanning of one or more physical records to create an electronic version in order to

fulfill the disclosure request.

• In calculating a total, the reason for scanning does not matter. The total number reported for this

metric should include both:

• the number of requests where documents were scanned because the requester required the

records in an electronic format, and

• the number of requests where the agency scanned the documents because production of the

electronic version is preferred either by the agency or the requester.

This metric focuses only on instances when a paper document is scanned to create an electronic version of

the document (e.g., a PDF). It does not include electronic records that are converted to another electronic

format. For example, converting an email to a PDF document.

In responding to this question, please include the total number of requests that involved document

scanning, not the number of documents scanned. For example, if Agency A received a single request in the

reporting period that asked for 10 one-page documents that are currently retained by the agency in paper

form, and the agency scanned those 10 pages to provide to the requester, the response to this question

would be “1”, not “10”.

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METRIC 10

Average estimated staff time spent on each public records request

RCW 42.14.026(5)(j)

To respond to the metric an agency will only need to provide the total estimated amount of agency staff time

spent on all public disclosure requests during the reporting period. The JLARC system will automatically derive

an average staff time per request based on the data reported using the time data provided here, and the total

number of requests provided in the baseline data (open requests at the start of the reporting period plus the

number of requests received during the reporting period.)

• Responses should include a single total estimate of staff time for all agency staff. The total estimate

should include both:

o Staff who are designated to respond to public records requests (Public Records Officers and

other staff whose primary job duties as set forth in their job description specifically includes

responding to public records requests) AND

o Staff for whom responding to public records requests is not one of their primary job duties in

their job description (e.g., business staff, line staff, managers, supervisors, administrative

staff, etc.).

Some agencies maintain detailed timekeeping of staff time associated with public records related work. Other

agencies do not currently have timekeeping systems in place and will need to estimate the amount of staff

time spent on responding to public records requests. There are many ways of estimating staff time and JLARC

does not require a specific method.

Time estimates should include time spent responding to requests and time spent on public records litigation.

Time associated with invoicing and collection should be also included here.

Some agency designated staff spend time on activities that are related to the disposition of public records

requests but that are not tied to a specific request (for example, attending public disclosure training or setting

up agency public disclosure procedures and policies.) Time associated with these types of tasks may be

included in the response to this metric.

NOTE: Agencies will not be required to submit subtotals by staff type. Agencies will only be required to

submit a total estimate of staff time. The distinction between staff type is made in this guidance to ensure

agencies understand that time associated with both types of staff must be included in the total estimated

The JLARC system will derive an average of staff time spent per request by using the total estimated staff

time and dividing by the number of requests from the baseline data (number of open requests at start of

reporting period plus number of requests received during the reporting period.)

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The examples above show two possible ways of estimating staff time per request. Your agency may use

alternative methods of estimating staff time. Care should be taken to develop time estimates that are as

accurate as possible. If your agency does not maintain a timekeeping system that captures this information,

your agency may want to consider using estimating techniques to develop this data. For example, your agency

may conduct detailed timekeeping on a sample of records requests and use the results to estimate across all

requests.

Example:

Agency A has three staff assigned to work half-time on public records requests. Each of the three staff are

estimated to have spent 800 hours on public records during the reporting period, for a total of 2,400 hours

estimated designated staff time.

During the reporting period 50 non-designated staff members spent 500 total estimated hours of non-

designated staff time.

Total estimated staff time for Agency A for the reporting period was 2,900 hours (2,400 hours of

designated staff time plus 500 hours of non-designated staff time).

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METRIC 11

Estimated total costs incurred by the agency in fulfilling records requests, including staff compensation and

legal review and average cost per request

RCW 42.14.026(5)(k)

To respond to this metric an agency will need to provide the agency’s total estimated costs incurred in fulfilling

public records requests during the reporting period for staff compensation, legal review and supplies and

services.

• Please provide the total estimated costs for staff compensation, legal review, and any supplies or

services procured for the purpose of responding to public records requests during the reporting period.

If your agency does not currently maintain detailed data on staff time and costs associated with public

records, you may use reasonable estimating techniques to determine the amount of time (captured in

Metric 12

) and the associated cost of that staff time. Care should be taken to develop cost estimates

that are as accurate as possible.

• Supplies and services may include items such as external services (e.g., printing services, large format

printing), mailing costs, supplies (CDs, DVDs, USB sticks, etc.), recurring software licensing, and other

professional services (non-litigation related). A worksheet is available to help you determine these

costs for reporting purposes. This worksheet is available on JLARC’s website. You are not required use

or to submit the estimation worksheet. It is provided solely as a tool to use at your agency’s discretion.

Agencies using this worksheet should include in the total cost reported here the sum of:

o Agency staff costs (cell C6)

o Legal costs – non-litigation (cell C7) and

o Supplies and services

• Costs of staff time associated with invoicing and collection should be included. Costs associated with

staff time spent in public disclosure training, setting up policies or procedures, etc. may also be

included.

Some agencies apply an “overhead” rate to the cost of an employee. The Office of Financial Management

defines overhead as “those elements of cost necessary in the production of a good or service which are not

directly traceable to the product or service. Usually, these costs relate to objects of expenditure that do not

become an integral part of the finished product or service, such as rent, heat, lights, management, and

supervision.” Agencies who have established an official overhead rate may include that cost in calculating this

metric and will be asked to report their overhead rate. Agencies that have not established an overhead rate

are not required to establish one in order to respond to this metric.

Please provide the total costs only. The JLARC system will be designed to generate the average cost per

request, using the cost data provided here and the baseline data provided previously (total open requests

at start of the reporting period, plus the number of requests received during the reporting period.)

In some circumstances an agency may have incurred costs for supplies or services that could be reported

under Metric 11 (costs incurred to fulfill public records requests) and Metric 14 (costs to manage and

retain records). In these cases, determine the primary purpose of the supplies or services and report the

costs under the appropriate metric. If the supplies or services are used for both equally, report 50% of the

cost under Metric 11 and 50% under Metric 14. Please do not double count the cost by including it in both

metrics.

Do no

t include costs associated with public records requests litigation as these costs will be captured

separately in Metric 13.

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JLARC Public Records Data Reporting | Public Records Metric Guidance 20

METRIC 12

Total number of cases filed alleging a violation of Chapter 42.56 or other public records statutes during the

reporting period, categorized by type and exemption at issue (if applicable)

RCW 42.14.026(5)(l)

To respond to this metric, an agency will need to provide the number of cases filed in court during the

reporting period that allege a violation of chapter 42.56 RCW or other public records statutes in the reporting

period involving the agency, categorized by type and exemption at issue.

• A violation type may include violations such as the agency did not provide a timely response, the

agency failed to complete a thorough search, failure to produce an exemption log, unreasonable

charges, etc. The system will present a list of typical violation types from which to select. You may

select multiple alleged violations for each case.

• An exemption refers to a statutory exemption. The system will present a list of exemption types from

which to select (if applicable). A complete list of statutory exemptions to the public records act is

provided by the Washington Code Reviser. Code Reviser’s List of Statutory Exemptions can be found

on the Office of the Attorney General’s website

Cases should only be included if they were filed during the reporting period. Do not include on-going cases

that were opened prior to the reporting period.

Cases that are filed and subsequently withdrawn should be included in this number.

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JLARC Public Records Data Reporting | Public Records Metric Guidance 21

METRIC 13

Total costs incurred by the agency litigating cases alleging a violation of Chapter 42.56 RCW or other public

records statutes during the reporting period, including any penalties imposed on the agency

RCW 42.14.026(5)(m)

To respond to this metric, an agency will need to provide the total costs incurred in the reporting period

litigating cases alleging a violation of chapter 42.56 RCW or other public records statutes, including any

penalties imposed on the agency.

Costs may include:

• Estimated costs of agency staff time incurred while responding to litigation (e.g. responding to

discovery, participating in depositions, attending mediation)

• Attorney fees for agency attorney

• Other costs for agency representation (e.g. costs associated with production of documents, purchasing

deposition transcripts)

• Settlement amounts

• Total penalties awarded by Court

• Attorney fees (for requester’s attorney) awarded by Court

• Costs (for requester’s litigation) awarded by Court

Include litigation costs incurred during the reporting period for all cases filed before and during the

reporting period.

Include only those costs incurred after a case has been filed in court.

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JLARC Public Records Data Reporting | Public Records Metric Guidance 22

METRIC 14

Estimated costs incurred by the agency with managing and retaining records, including staff compensation

and purchases of equipment, hardware, software, and services to manage

RCW 42.14.026(5)(n)

Costs reported for this metric should be related to managing and retaining public records. Costs associated

with responding to public records requests should be reported in Metric 11

. To respond to this metric, an

agency will need to provide estimated costs associated with managing and retaining records.

Costs should be broken down into three categories as follows:

• Cost of agency staff whose primary duties involves the managing/retaining of records (such as records

officers/managers, data custodians, etc.)

• Costs associated with the purchase, lease, and maintenance of agency systems whose primary

function involves the managing/retaining of records (such as enterprise content managements (ECM)

systems, email storage/vaulting systems, social media capture tools, recording systems, etc.)

• Costs associated with services purchased in relation to managing/retaining records (such as

hosted/software as a service (SaaS) services, Public Records Efficiency, Preservation, and access

central services charges for state agencies, records destruction services, etc.)

For purposes of responding to this metric, please include costs associated with systems specifically or

predominantly designed to assist with managing and retaining records.

• Staff costs should include base wages plus benefits, plus the agency’s overhead, calculated for the

portion of time they spend on relevant activities.

• System costs may include the costs incurred during the reporting period on the purchase or lease, and

maintenance of hardware, software, software licenses, vendor staffing for implementation and

servicing relevant systems.

• Service costs may include payments made to third-party vendors during the reporting period for

records management and retention services.

Some agencies apply an “overhead” rate to the cost of an employee. The Washington Office of Financial

Management defines overhead as “those elements of cost necessary in the production of a good or service

which are not directly traceable to the product or service. Usually, these costs relate to objects of expenditure

that do not become an integral part of the finished product or service, such as rent, heat, lights, management,

and supervision.” Agencies who have established an official overhead rate may include that cost in calculating

this metric and will be asked to provide their overhead rate. Agencies that have not established an overhead

rate are not required to establish one in order to respond to this metric.

Costs associated with systems/services whose primary/major function involves the fulfillment of public

records requests (such as records request tracking systems, redaction software, etc.) should be reported in

Metric 11 and not included here.

In some circumstances an agency may have incurred costs for supplies or services that could be reported

under Metric 11 (costs incurred to fulfill public records requests) and Metric 14 (costs to manage and

retain records). In these cases, determine the primary purpose of the supplies or services and report the

costs under the appropriate metric. If the supplies or services are used for both equally, report 50% of the

cost under Metric 11 and 50% under Metric 14. Please do not double count the cost by including it in both

metrics.

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JLARC Public Records Data Reporting | Public Records Metric Guidance 23

Example:

Staff Member A is designated as the agency’s Records Manager and Public Records Officer and is

compensated at $100,000 per year inclusive of base wages and benefits.

The agency’s overhead rate is 35%, bringing the total full-time cost of Staff Member A to $135,000.

If Staff Member A devotes 50% of her time to Records Management activities during the period of this

report, the cost would be reported as $67,500 ($135,000 x .5). The remaining 50% of Staff Member A’s

time is devoted to responding to public records requests. That time is not calculated in here, but instead is

reflected in Metric 11

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JLARC Public Records Data Reporting | Public Records Metric Guidance 24

METRIC 15

Total expenses recovered by the agency from requesters for fulfilling public records requests, including any

customized charges

RCW 42.14.026(5)(o)

To respond to this metric, agencies will need to provide:

• Total amount of expenses recovered during the reporting period from requesters for fulfilling public

records requests.

• Of the recovered expenses reported, total expenses recovered through customized service charges

used during the reporting period. For more information related to customized service charges, please

refer to RCW 42.56.120(3)

• Agencies will also need to describe customized service charges implemented.

• Examples of expenses that may be recovered include:

o Physical copies (e.g., photocopies or printed copies See RCW 42.56.120(2)(b)(i))

o Scanned copies (See RCW 42.56.120 (2)(b)(ii))

o Electronic files or other on-line delivery (See RCW 42.56.120(2)(b)(iii))

o Transmission using agency equipment to send electronically (See RCW 42.56.120(2)(b)(iv))

o Digital storage media, including delivery (See RCW 42.56.120(2)(b)(v))

o Flat fee charged by agency (See RCW 42.56.120(2)(d))

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JLARC Public Records Data Reporting | Public Records Metric Guidance 25

OVERVIEW OF METRICS

METRIC

DATA REQUIRED

Baseline Data

Total open requests at start of reporting period

Total open requests that were closed during reporting period

Total requests received during reporting period

Total requests received that were closed during reporting period

Total requests closed (system calculation)

Number of requests closed

within five days of receiving the

request

Number of requests received during the reporting period where

the requester received the records within five days

Number of requests where an

estimate beyond five days was

provided

Number of public records requests received during the reporting

period for which the requester was provided an estimate of

anticipated response time beyond five business days of receipt of

the request

Average and median days to

final disposition

Number of requests with final disposition

Number of days to final disposition

Median number of days to final disposition

Average number of days to final disposition (system calculation)

Number of records requests

where the agency sought

clarification from the requester

Number of requests for which the agency formally sought

additional clarification from the requester

Number of records requests

denied and common reasons

Number of closed requests that were denied in full

Number of closed requests that were partially denied or redacted

5-10 most common reasons for denying requests during the

reporting period

Number of abandoned records

requests

Number of requests abandoned by requesters during the

reporting period

Number of records requests, by

type of requester

Number of requests by type of requester (individuals, law firms,

organizations/businesses, insurers, governments, incarcerated

persons, media, current or former employees, other,

unknown/anonymous)

Number of records requests

fulfilled electronically and

physically

Number of requests fulfilled electronically

Number of requests fulfilled by physical records

Number of requests fulfilled by electronic and physical records

Number of requests closed with no responsive records

Percent of requests fulfilled electronically (system calculation)

Percent of requests fulfilled by physical records (system

calculation)

Percent of requests fulfilled by electronic and physical records

(system calculation)

Percent of requests closed with no responsive records (system

calculation)

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JLARC Public Records Data Reporting | Public Records Metric Guidance 26

METRIC

DATA REQUIRED

Number of records requests

involving scanning

Number of requests closed during the reporting period that

involved the scanning of one or more physical records to create

an electronic version in order to fulfill the disclosure request

Average estimated staff hours

spent responding to requests

Estimated total staff time in hours

Average estimated staff time in hours per request (system

calculation)

Cost of fulfilling records

requests

Estimated total cost

Average estimated cost per request (system calculation)

Agency applied overhead rate (if applicable)

Number of court cases filed

alleging a violation

Number of cases filed alleging a violation of Chapter 42.56 or

other public records statutes during the reporting period

Violation type(s)

Exemption(s) (if applicable)

Cost of litigating cases alleging

a statutory violation

Total costs incurred by the agency litigating cases during the

reporting period

Estimated costs incurred to

managing and retaining records

Cost of agency staff who manage/retain records

Cost of systems that manage/retain records

Cost of services purchased for managing/retaining records

Total estimated cost for managing and retaining records (system

calculation)

Agency applied overhead rate (if applicable)

Expenses recovered from

requesters

Total among of expenses recovered during the reporting period

from requesters

Total expenses recovered through customized service charges (if

applicable)

Description of customized service charges (if applicable)