by Erick Bengel, Washington State Standard
February 9, 2026
A bill moving through the Washington legislature seeks to find ways to discourage people from misusing the state’s Public Records Act to target school districts.
Introduced by state Rep. Skyler Rude, R-Walla Walla, HB 2661 concerns records requests that are “frivolous, retaliatory, or harassing” and that place a heavy burden on school district resources and personnel.
Rude’s original bill proposed a task force to look at how the issue affects public agencies generally. The group would have included representatives from organizations, such as media outlets and government watchdogs, that make records requests, and from agencies that respond to requests.
An amended version, which passed the House State Government & Tribal Relations Committee on Wednesday, Feb. 4, directs the Joint Legislative Audit and Review Committee to form a work group to look only at how the issue impacts school districts. The task force invitees will now be asked to join the work group.
At the bill’s Tuesday, Feb. 3, hearing, Rude said that, as he considered how to alleviate burdens on school districts, the issue of PRA compliance — specifically when it comes to frivolous requests — rose to the top.
Rude, who serves as ranking minority member on the House Education Committee, said that when it comes to K-12 schools, he’s concerned about the increasing costs of “administrative burdens … that divert resources away from student instruction.”
He added that if the PRA allows someone “to submit dozens and dozens of the exact same requests just for the intent of being harassing, we need to make some updates.”
Fred Rundle, superintendent of Mercer Island School District, said at the hearing that his district has had to hire a half-time public records officer and has spent more than $85,000 in operating costs to handle requests.
Tamara Kimberley, the communications coordinator and public records officer for West Valley School District in Spokane Valley, said “transparency is a fundamental responsibility of public schools, and districts take that obligation seriously.”
“However,” she said, “the volume and nature of these requests places significant strain on limited district resources.”
Over three years, Kimberley said, the time she’s spent responding to public records requests has increased from about five to 10 hours per month to between 25 and 30 hours. In 2025, Kimberley said, her district received 77 requests.
Tyna Ek, general counsel for Washington Schools Risk Management Pool — a potential work group participant — said schools have a unique problem because the records requests they receive are often about children and litigation involving them. These requests raise privilege issues that demand lawyers, “and so it becomes particularly expensive,” Ek said.
Another potential work group participant is the nonprofit Washington Coalition for Open Government, which opposed the original bill.
Ellen Hiatt, a WashCOG board member and executive director of the Washington Newspaper Publishers Association, said, “Responding to requests for information from the public is a basic part of open government infrastructure, just like sewage and roads.”
The Allied Daily Newspapers of Washington might also join the work group.
Speaking on behalf of the organization and the Washington State Association of Broadcasters, Rowland Thompson said that school districts and other public agencies find themselves in a “perfect storm.”
As governments create exponentially more records, the populace, which “doesn’t really trust the government,” is becoming more sophisticated about asking for them because they obtain many through the internet, Thompson said.
State voters approved the Public Records Act in a 1972 initiative.
Erick Bengel, reporting on eastern Washington issues during the 2026 state legislative session, is with the Murrow News Fellowship.
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