Disclosure of Criminal History and Arrest Records
This page discusses disclosure of criminal history record information (CHRI) held by law enforcement agencies in Washington State, and covers agency disclosures of criminal conviction data and nonconviction data about individuals.
It is part of MRSC's Law Enforcement Records Tool Kit, created in partnership with the State Auditor's Center for Government Innovation.
Always consult with your legal counsel if you are unsure whether a record or certain information within the record is exempt or prohibited from disclosure.
What Is Criminal History Record Information (CHRI)?
Criminal history record information (CHRI) is information about a person’s involvement in the criminal justice system. Commonly found in records such as “rap sheets,” RCW 10.97.030(4) legally defines CHRI as “identifiable descriptions and notations” of an individual’s arrests, detentions, and formal criminal charges that are collected by “criminal justice agencies.”
Criminal justice agencies are agencies other than courts that allocate a substantial part of their yearly budget to administering criminal justice by statute or executive order. Common examples include law enforcement agencies (Washington State Patrol, county sheriff’s departments and city police departments) and corrections agencies (such as city and county jails). See RCW 10.97.030(1) and (5).
Importantly, CHRI specifically excludes some common criminal justice agency records such as “wanted” bulletins, records of traffic violations punishable by 90 days in jail or less, and investigative reports and files. See RCW 10.97.030(4)(a)-(h). See MRSC's sample arrest report for an example of how agencies can handle criminal history information in an investigative record.
Agency Disclosure of CHRI
The Criminal Records Privacy Act (CRPA), chapter 10.97 RCW, regulates agency disclosure (or “dissemination”) of CHRI about individuals. RCW 10.97.030(7) defines dissemination as disclosing an individual’s CHRI or its absence to any person or agency outside the disseminating agency. However, some CHRI disclosures such as police departments “providing information to a prosecutor for use in preparing a charge” are not disseminations subject to chapter 10.97 RCW.
Agency CHRI Disseminations Must Include Dispositions
RCW 10.97.040 generally requires agencies to include an incident’s disposition when disseminating CHRI about arrests, detentions, or formal criminal charges. Accordingly, dispositions (or the lack of them) can play a significant role in determining whether agencies can disseminate CHRI about an incident.
RCW 10.97.030(6) defines “dispositions” as the formal conclusion of criminal proceedings related to an incident. Proceedings are presumed concluded if they relate to an arrest, citation, charge, or warrant service that is over a year old with no disposition entered (although this presumption can be rebutted in specific cases). See RCW 10.97.030(8).
Despite this general requirement, RCW 10.97.050(2) allows agencies to disseminate CHRI “without restriction” if it pertains to a pending incident occurring within the last 12 months and still in process with the criminal justice system. In addition, agencies are not required to disseminate an incident’s disposition if it occurred within 10 days before the dissemination and hasn’t yet been reported to the agency. See RCW 10.97.040.
Disseminating Conviction Data
Chapter 10.97 RCW recognizes two types of charge dispositions that agencies must generally include with disseminated CHRI: conviction data and nonconviction data.
RCW 10.97.050(1) allows agencies to disseminate conviction data without restriction. Conviction data (or a “conviction record”) relates to criminal proceedings that formally conclude in a conviction or other disposition “adverse to the subject.” See RCW 10.97.030(3). State v. Peterson (2025) holds that later vacated criminal convictions are still considered conviction data. Acquittals based on insanity and dismissals based on incompetency under chapter 10.77 RCW are also considered adverse to the subject (and accordingly conviction data). See RCW 10.97.030(2).
Disseminating Nonconviction Data Generally
On the other hand, nonconviction data is information about incidents where proceedings concluded with no adverse disposition against the subject. See RCW 10.97.030(8). Such “non-adverse dispositions” include decisions not to prosecute and acquittals or dismissals (other than those based on insanity or incompetency mentioned above).
Agency disclosures of nonconviction data are restricted to the allowable purposes in RCW 10.97.050(3-8), which include (among others):
- Dissemination to other criminal justice agencies for purposes of criminal justice administration (broadly defined in RCW 10.97.030(1) to include the detection, apprehension or detention of accused persons or criminal offenders);
- Dissemination to other criminal justice or juvenile justice agencies in connection with a background check for employment with the receiving agency;
- Dissemination pursuant to statutes, ordinances, court rules, decisions or orders that specifically allow access to CHRI;
- Dissemination to individuals and agencies that provide criminal justice services to the disclosing agency by contract, if the contract specifically allows CHRI access.
Further, RCW 10.97.080 provides that only a record’s subject can “retain or mechanically reproduce” nonconviction data within a record. However, the court in Bainbridge Island Police Guild v. City of Puyallup (2011) noted that this reproduction restriction does not prevent viewing or inspecting nonconviction data in records. Note also that individuals may obtain copies of their own nonconviction data.
If a CHRI record includes both conviction and nonconviction data, the agency should redact the nonconviction data from it and produce its remaining conviction information. See Bainbridge Island Police Guild v. City of Puyallup (2011).
Nonconviction Data Located in Investigative Records
Under RCW 10.97.030(1), the definition of CHRI includes information located in criminal justice agency records that identify an individual’s record of involvement in the criminal justice system, except when contained in “intelligence, analytical, or investigative reports or files” (among other places).
No case law addresses this exception and agencies interpret it differently. Some interpret it to allow the release of all nonconviction data in investigative files, including rap sheets, while others withhold nonconviction data in rap sheets and other records until they know the underlying case has resolved with a conviction. Check with your agency’s legal counsel when dealing with requests for records that include nonconviction data located in intelligence or investigative files.
Other CHRI Requirements and Provisions
To ensure the dissemination of only the most current and complete information, RCW 10.97.040 generally requires agencies to check with the Washington State Patrol (WSP) identification section before disseminating CHRI about felonies or gross misdemeanors. However, in limited circumstances agencies can disseminate CHRI about such incidents without completing this requirement. See RCW 10.97.040(1-6).
Agencies must keep confidential the specific descriptive details and the identity and contact information of sexual assault or commercial sexual exploitation victims that are under age 18. Identity includes the victim’s name, addresses, location, photographs and relationship to the perpetrator (if the victim and perpetrator are related). Contract information includes a victim’s phone numbers, email addresses, social media profiles, and user names and passwords. Agencies can only disclose this information to police, prosecutors, defense attorneys, judges and service providers for the victim, and must otherwise delete this information from disseminated CHRI.
RCW 10.97.050(9) requires criminal justice agencies to keep records of all their CHRI disseminations for at least one year. The records must include what the dissemination date was, who received the CHRI, who the CHRI pertained to, and what information was disseminated.
RCW 10.97.100 allows criminal justice agencies to impose reasonable fees for disseminating CHRI to non-criminal justice agency recipients.
RCW 10.97.070(1) gives agencies discretion to disclose an adult or juvenile suspect’s identity to a victim that has suffered physical loss, property damage, or injury. The disclosure can also include “such other information” that the agency believes may assist the victim in obtaining civil redress (even otherwise restricted nonconviction data).
