Washington Public Records Act

The Public Records Act (PRA) is a law of the U.S. state of Washington requiring public access to all records and materials from state and local agencies.^[1] It was originally passed as a ballot initiative by voters in 1972 and revised several times by the state legislature. The definition of public records, especially concerning the state legislature, was subject to several legal challenges in the decades since the law was passed.

In 2018, a county judge ruled that legislative records and communications were subject to public disclosure, after a lawsuit was filed by media outlets. In response, the state legislature appealed the ruling and introduced a bill that would exempt their records from the act. The bill was passed by the legislature but was vetoed by Governor Jay Inslee after public outcry; the lawsuit was subsequently ruled in favor of the media outlets and upheld by the Washington Supreme Court.

The act is listed in the Revised Code of Washington as Chapter 42, Section 56.^[1]