Bodycam Footage and Open Record Requests
A First Post
I hope to have five general post categories: practice pointers, legal developments, history, funny anecdotes and finally some politics.
For my first post I thought to address a practical application of public disclosure law: body cam footage in the State of Washington. Public disclosure statutes are not just for attorneys and experts. Everyone should understand public disclosure statutes the same way we know taxes. A normal person doesn’t need to know everything, but knowing just enough will save you heartache down the road.
In general, the rule is that "[n]o fee shall be charged for the inspection of public records or in locating public records and making them available for copying." RCW 42.56.120(1). Police departments, cities, counties, etc. in Washington are generally not allowed to charge for locating the records or redacting the records. However, there are two exceptions to this general rule.
The first is a "customized service charge," which can be imposed when "the agency estimates that the request would require the use of information technology expertise to prepare data compilations [….]" RCW 42.56.120(3). As a small note: cities and police departments will cite that language when they're imposing a fee for redaction, which is improper.
The second is limited to "[b]ody worn camera recordings." RCW 42.56.240(14). “[B]ody worn camera recordings may require [the] requester...to pay the reasonable costs of redacti[on]." RCW 42.56.240(14)(f)(i). The cost imposed must be the "least costly commercially available method," and cannot include the "time spent on redaction." RCW 42.56.240(14)(f)(ii), (iii). In other words, the legislature put Washington in the ‘actual costs’ category of open record requests.
Importantly, the cost exception simply does not apply if the requester is actually depicted in the body cam footage. RCW 42.56.240(14)(e)(i), (ii). Or an attorney's client is so depicted. Id. Or the requester or his attorney is involved in the incident depicted. Id.
If you live in Washington: know your rights. As body cameras proliferate among the sovereignties in Washington this footage is not just for criminal matters, and not even just for court. If you get in an accident, insurance adjustors want to bring closure to your file just as much as you do. One way to do this might involve bodycam footage of the responding officers.
And finally, Washington is fairly unique in that attorney fees and costs for unreasonable delay will be assessed prior to litigation. Asotin County v. Eggleston, 7 Wn. App. 2d 143 (2019). So if a city or police department has footage of you, and you want to see it, they are on the clock.