A request for records under the Washington Public Records Act must seek an identifiable record. General requests for information are not treated as requests for public records and do not fall under this procedure. The district is not required to create a new record to satisfy a request for information or a public records request.
When the district receives a request for an identifiable record, within five (5) business days of receiving the public records request, the Richland School District will:
1. Provide the record(s); or
2. Provide an internet address and link on the district’s website to the specific records requested; or
3. Acknowledge that the district has received the request and provide a reasonable estimate of the time the district will require to respond to the request; or
4. Deny the public record request with a written statement as to why it is being withheld and a citation of the specific legal exemption that applies.
In the event that the request is unclear, the district will contact the requestor within five (5) business days to attempt to clarify the intent of the request. Once clarified, the district will respond in accordance with the guidelines stated above. If the requestor fails to clarify the request, the district may consider the request closed.
If the record which is requested for inspection and/or copying contains both information exempted from disclosure and nonexempt information, the district will produce as much of the record as possible, with the exempt portion redacted, and will provide a written explanation for the redaction.
The district typically processes public records requests in the order received, but may process requests out of order if doing so allows for requests to be processed more efficiently.
