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LCB outlines litigation risks after recent court rulings; closure letters and search documentation updated
Summary
Public records manager Samina Mays told the board courts now scrutinize closure letters and search documentation; the agency updated closure templates after Cousins v. State and reviewed installment‑production timing after an Undivided Media ruling.
At the executive meeting, the LCB’s public records manager reviewed recent court decisions that have changed how agencies document and communicate public‑records handling. Samina Mays said the Washington Supreme Court’s decision in Cousins v. State underscored the need for unambiguous closure letters and reminded agencies of a two‑year window for judicial review.
"You do need to be super clear in your letters that this is the date that it's closed and it's official," Mays said, explaining the agency added explicit language and the two‑year notice to its closure templates. She also summarized an appeals‑level decision involving Undivided Media and the city of Seattle that scrutinized the timing of installments in multi‑part productions; the ruling highlights the need to document when records were gathered and why any delay in production occurred.
Mays told board members courts often demand proof of adequate searches — keywords used, staff involved and other documentary evidence — and that inadequate searches or unexplained delayed installments increase litigation exposure. She said the agency’s practice of pasting and saving search queries in GovQA and performing two‑person exemption reviews are intended to reduce that risk.
