JLARC Reports on Domestic Violence PRA Exemption; AG Proposes PRA Model Rule Amendments

In 2023, the Washington State Legislature adopted a new Public Records Act (PRA) exemption to protect the identity of public employees or their dependents who are survivors of domestic violence, sexual abuse, stalking, or harassment (see RCW 42.56.250).

We wrote about the new exemption and considered some of its unanswered questions in the blog, New PRA Exemption Available to Protect Employee Safety. This blog will look at whether agencies have used it.

More Background on HB 1533

In addition to adopting the new exemption, the 2023 bill, HB 1533, also directed the Joint Legislative Audit and Review Committee (JLARC) to prepare a report analyzing the impacts of the exemption. Specifically, JLARC was directed to report on whether the exemption was effective in protecting personal information while maintaining public transparency and whether the exemption should be maintained or modified to ensure protection of survivors.

JLARC Surveys Agencies

JLARC set about its task by sending out a survey to over 1,000 state and local agencies, following up with one-on-one interviews with 28 of the 71 agencies that indicated using the exemption at least once.

In July 2025, JLARC submitted its report: Public Records Exemption for Survivors of Domestic Violence, Sexual Abuse, Stalking, or Harassment. JLARC found that state and local agencies do use the exemption, that it provides increased protection for affected employees with minimal effect on public access to records, but that there remains inconsistency in its application—despite regular education and guidance being provided by the Office of the Attorney General (AGO) and other entities (MRSC included).

JLARC found that although only a small number of employees (approximately 0.2%) have requested the exemption, agencies did report that employees appreciated the added protection. That said, a lack of awareness of the availability of the exemption was apparent in some of the survey responses.

Importantly, JLARC highlighted the following concerns:

• Variation in the definition of key terms may expose a greater amount of employee information at some agencies.
• Agencies may lack written policies and report uncertainty about procedural issues.
• Most interviewed agencies view the exemption favorably, though some are uncertain about its limits.

Conclusion

Ultimately, JLARC recommended that the exemption to protect the identity of public employees or their dependents who are survivors of domestic violence, sexual abuse, stalking, or harassment be kept.

While the number of employees using this exemption to date is small, it does provide increased protection for at-risk employees. That said, JLARC also recommends that the AGO continue to provide more guidance and training on how to implement the exemptions.

As that guidance and other best practices are developed, we at MRSC will be sure to share it.

Comment Period Open for Proposed Model PRA Rules

The AGO’s office has released proposed amendments to the Model PRA Rules, Chapter 44-14 WAC, that emphasize timely and diligent responses to records requests and has begun a formal rulemaking process to allow for public review/input on the amendments.

Under the proposed rule amendments, public agencies are encouraged to:

• Triage requests into simple versus complex responses to better manage workflow.
• Provide records with their initial five-day response where the request is for a single, specific, identifiable record.
• Clarify state versus local agency obligations regarding maintaining and publishing an index of records.
• Send requesters a closure letter to let them know when an agency is no longer working on a response and the one-year timeframe for judicial review has begun.
• Limiting discretionary third-party notice to instances where disclosure may substantially and irreparable cause damage and when there is a reasonable belief that records are arguably exempt from disclosure.

A public hearing will be conducted on November 6, 2025, during which oral and written comments will be accepted. The AGO is also accepting comments via email through November 17.