An independent citizen or journalist approaches an employee at a front desk and politely requests to see the office's "Published Procedures Manual," citing Washington State Public Records Law (RCW 42.56.040). The law explicitly states that local agencies must "prominently display and make available for inspection" these rules. The employee is helpful but admits he doesn't know where it is kept. He attempts to find it but is unable to locate a physical copy.An independent citizen or journalist approaches an employee at a front desk and politely requests to see the office's "Published Procedures Manual," citing Washington State Public Records Law (RCW 42.56.040).
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The law explicitly states that local agencies must "prominently… pic.twitter.com/Pd06Eslshw
The citizen is directed to a back office to speak with the records manager. When he asks for the manual, the manager's attitude shifts to defensive and unhelpful.
She claims "we don't have a procedure manual that we post," directly contradicting the law shown on the screen.
When the citizen points out that the statute mandates it be publicly available, she refuses to help further and says, "I'm going to ask that that lawfully stay off the... what you're talking about... you can go get it."
As the citizen continues to state his legal right to inspect the records, she walks away, cuts him off, and calls for security, stating, "I suggest stopping coming here trying to start surfing... no, I want to inspect the... you go look for me."
A court security officer arrives to handle the situation. The conversation turns into a legal debate about the definitions of "orderly conduct" and "trespassing."
The Security Officer's Stance: He tells the citizen that because the staff doesn't want to help him, he is "disorderly" and must leave. He threatens to trespass the citizen and escort him out in handcuffs if he does not comply.
The citizen remains completely calm and argues that he is conducting lawful public business. He points out a different statute (RCW 40.16.010), which states that it is a class C felony for a public officer to willfully conceal or obliterate public records. He argues that by refusing to show the mandatory manual, the staff is committing a crime.
This story highlights a classic clash between transparency laws and bureaucratic resistance. While the law heavily favors the citizen's right to view the agency's procedures without having to file a formal, delayed records request, the staff and security treat the persistent request as a disruption, ultimately using the threat of arrest to remove him from the public space.
