Washington · Public Records Act (RCW 42.56)

Meet Washington's five-business-day duty on every request

AccessPoint manages Public Records Act requests under RCW 42.56 — the five-business-day response, the fullest-assistance mandate, exemption logs, cost charges, and penalty exposure — pre-configured for Washington and running inside your own Microsoft 365 tenant.

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Washington at a glance

Response deadline
5 business days to respond (RCW 42.56.520)
Response options
Provide records, give an internet link, acknowledge with a reasonable estimate, seek clarification, or deny
Inspection
No charge to inspect records
Charges
Per-page copy charges and customized-service charges (RCW 42.56.120)
Penalties
Costs, attorney fees, and up to $100 per day for wrongful denial (RCW 42.56.550)
Languages
English

Built for Washington

One platform for the whole access-and-privacy mandate, pre-configured for this regime and running in your own Microsoft 365 tenant.

PRA request lifecycle

Intake to production with the five-business-day response, the fullest-assistance duty, installment production, exemption logs, and cost tracking, all built on Microsoft 365.

Five business days, five ways

Choose the statutory response — produce, link, acknowledge with a reasonable estimate, seek clarification, or deny — and record it inside the deadline.

Exemption log and redaction

Apply Washington exemptions with a brief written explanation and a per-record citation on every withholding, exactly as the Act requires.

Cost charges done right

Per-page copy charges, electronic-transmission charges, and customized-service charges computed and disclosed under RCW 42.56.120.

Penalty exposure, managed

With per-day penalties and attorney fees on the line, every action is timestamped and defensible — a record built for judicial review.

In your own Washington tenant

Every request, document, and record stays inside your own Microsoft 365 and Azure tenant — no third-party cloud, no cross-border transfers, no per-user fees.

The five-business-day duty

Washington gives you five business days and five ways to respond. Missing them has a price.

Within five business days of a request, a Washington agency must do one of five things: produce the records, point to them online, acknowledge the request with a reasonable estimate of the time needed, ask for clarification, or deny with reasons — all under a statutory duty to provide the "fullest assistance" and the most timely possible action. Get it wrong and the courts can award costs, attorney fees, and up to $100 for every day access was denied. AccessPoint puts the clock, the response options, and the exemption log in one place, so the right response goes out on time and leaves the timestamped record you would need if a denial is ever challenged.

On the clock The five-business-day response, tracked from the moment a request arrives.
Fullest assistance Reasonable time estimates and installment production, built in.
Penalty-aware Every step timestamped for the per-day penalty standard.

Configured out of the box

Installing the us-wa-pra configuration pack seeds your tenant with everything this regime needs — a starting point you can adjust, not a lock-in.

Related guide: FOI Workflow Quick Check
  • The Public Records Act (RCW 42.56) as the legal-authority and citation spine
  • Washington business-day math and the five-business-day response rules
  • The Washington exemption catalogue, colour-coded for redaction
  • The five statutory response options with reasonable-estimate tracking
  • Installment (partial) production and the fullest-assistance workflow
  • RCW 42.56.120 per-page, electronic, and customized-service charge rules
  • Denial, exemption-log, and closure templates with statutory wording
  • A timestamped audit trail built for RCW 42.56.550 penalty exposure

Washington Questions

How fast must a Washington agency respond to a public records request?
Within five business days the agency must do one of five things — provide the records, give an internet link to them, acknowledge the request and give a reasonable estimate of the time needed, seek clarification, or deny with reasons (RCW 42.56.520). AccessPoint tracks the five-business-day clock and records which response was made.

What is the "fullest assistance" duty?
RCW 42.56.100 requires agencies to provide the fullest assistance to requesters and the most timely possible action on requests — including producing readily available records promptly and delivering large requests in installments. AccessPoint builds reasonable-estimate and installment production into the workflow.

What are the penalties for getting a PRA request wrong?
Under RCW 42.56.550 a court may award costs, reasonable attorney fees, and a penalty of up to $100 for each day a person was wrongly denied the right to inspect or copy a record. Because exposure accrues daily, AccessPoint timestamps every action so the handling of each request is defensible on review.

Where does our public-records data reside?
Entirely within your own Microsoft 365 and Azure tenant. Requests, documents, and audit history never leave your control — no third-party cloud and no cross-border data transfers.

Run the Washington Public Records Act in One Platform

Try AccessPoint free for 30 days, pre-configured for Washington. No credit card required.

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