Open records laws are for citizens, too

Who’d have known there was a living to be made merely asking cities to obey the law?

David Koenig of Federal Way seems to be doing precisely that.

Earlier this month, a Pierce County Superior Court judge ordered the City of Lakewood to pay Koenig $40,000 for denying him public records relating to the arrest of a police officer in a prostitution sting. This is the latest of several awards, all for being denied documents he was entitled to under the state’s open records laws.

Koenig’s biggest take was $83,500 from the City of Des Moines. In that case, the city had refused to turn over documents dealing with the rape of his daughter, who was living with her mother and stepfather.

But his chief target has been records that expose alleged wrongdoing by cops. Some cities have been loath to release such documents to a private citizen who walks in and demands them. In the end, the cities turn over the records and a fat check.

Koenig’s modus operandi – embarrassing cops – isn’t endearing. But he wouldn’t be collecting a penny if local governments were routinely doing what they are legally bound to do. Whatever his motives, he’s exposing secretiveness in South Sound municipalities and highlighting the fact that open records laws aren’t just for media professionals.

The region’s largest jurisdictions appear to get it, for the most part. A new survey from the state auditor’s office – a sting operation, actually – indicates that such big cities as Tacoma and Seattle do give citizens the records they ask for, though some are quicker about it than others.

Nearly 9 out of 10 complied with the law. Judged in terms of “overall responsiveness,” Tacoma scored 10 out of 10; Pierce County scored nine out of 10. Seattle gave more of a runaround to auditors posing as citizens but still eventually delivered.

An attitude of openness and a habit of compliance need to spread to the likes of Tukwila and Buckley, which have also had to pay Koenig many thousands of dollars for failing to come clean on incidents involving police officers.

It makes you wonder if law schools teach open government at all, or if municipal attorneys are left to learn by trial and error – mostly error – once they take a job with a city.

Here’s a brief overview in the law, right from Washington’s Open Records Act:

“The people, in delegating authority, do not give their public servants the right to decide what is good for the people to know and what is not good for them to know. . . . The public records subdivision of this chapter shall be liberally construed and its exemptions narrow construed to promote this public policy.”

That last sentence could be rephrased as follows: When in doubt, hand it over.