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Port Orchard council receives refresher on social media legal obligations
Summary
City staff led a training during the Jan. 21 study session on how the Public Records Act, recent case law and state campaign rules affect council members’ use of social media; staff urged elected officials to retain posts about city business and described possible personal liability for failing to respond to records requests.
Port Orchard City Council members received a training Jan. 21 on legal risks and record-keeping obligations tied to elected officials’ social media use, led by city staff during the council’s study session. The presentation reviewed how the Public Records Act, state and federal case law, and Washington campaign rules intersect with personal and official posts.
The training summarized several takeaways the city said council members should treat as binding practice. “We recommend that you retain everything,” the presenter said, adding the city may ask council members to provide copies and fill out affidavits if social-media content is the subject of a records request. The presenter also warned that, in at least one recent case cited, individual council members faced the onus of proving they had no responsive records.
Why it matters: staff told the council that a post on a personal account can become a city record if it “relates to the conduct of government” or is prepared in an official capacity, and that a post’s status is…
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