The Supreme Court ruling in Associated Press et al. v. Washington State Legislature et al. – which came after a coalition of media organizations sued – essentially found that for years, legislators had unlawfully claimed themselves exempt from the 1972 voter-approved transparency law.
The Public Records Act requires city councils and police departments, county commissions and sheriffs, state agencies and elected officials to release documents like calendars, memos, phone records, emails and text messages. It’s the law that allows anyone to go and read the emails of Attorney General Bob Ferguson, Gov. Jay Inslee and other statewide elected officials.
But even the highest court in the state can’t stop legislators
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