HomeMy WebLinkAboutRenton Municipal Court MOU Public Records Requests (2017) Memorandum of Understanding
between
Renton Municipal Court,
the Human Resources Department and
the Information Technology Division of the Administrative Services Department
for the City of Renton
The Renton Municipal Court ("Court") and the Human Resources/Risk Management Department
("HR/RM") of the City of Renton (collectively: "Parties") enter into the following Memorandum of
Understanding ("MOU") The purpose of this MOU is to set forth the understanding of the Parties
regarding certain records maintained by the Information Technology division of the Administrative
Services Department (hereinafter " ASD & IT") and the intent of the Parties when the City receives a
public records request related to the Court's records, including those of its employees.
This MOU recognizes that the Court is an independent branch of government, and is not included
within the definition of an "agency" under the Public Records Act, chapter 42.56 RCW (PRA).
Further, the Parties acknowledge that the Washington State Supreme Court has enacted General
Rule 31.1, which defines "judicial records" and sets out rules governing their production in response
to requests for those records.
GR31.1(b) defines Judicial Records as : (1) Case Records - records that relate to in-court
proceedings including case files, dockets, calendars etc; (2) Administrative Records — records that
relate to the management, supervision, or administration of a court or judicial agency; and (3)
Chamber Records — records that are controlled and maintained by a judge's chambers. Some of
the Court's records are maintained exclusively by the IT division on the City's IT servers. The ASD
& IT, as an arm of the executive branch, is an incidental custodian of these records and does not
use them for any executive branch purpose. While those records might be kept by the IT division
for the convenience of storage, data processing, or records management, the Parties understand
that those Judicial Records remain Judicial Records for the purposes of application of GR31.1.
The Parties understand that the City of Renton is an "agency" under the PRA and must respond to
requests for public records. A "public record" includes any writing containing information relating to
the conduct of government or the performance of any governmental or proprietary function
prepared, owned, used, or retained by any state or local agency regardless of physical form or
characteristics. RCW 42.56.010(3).
When the City of Renton receives a public records request related to the Court or its employees, the
Parties agree to employ the following process:
1. For requests for Judicial records, as defined in GR31.1, that happen to reside in or on city
servers maintained by the IT division, in any form, the Public Records Officer for the City of
Renton will forward the request immediately to the Court and inform the requestor that a
response to the request will come directly from the Court. The request will be provided to
the Public Records Officer of the Court who will respond to the request in accordance with
GR 31.1.
2. In response to requests for records relating to the Court or its employees that are used by
the executive branch to perform administrative functions, including storage, data processing,
or records management, the executive branch will promptly notify and provide a copy of the
request to the Public Records Officers of both the executive and judicial branch entities. The
City's Public Records Officer and the Court's Public Records Officer will coordinate to
provide a response to the requestor. The Public Records Officers will determine if there
needs to be parallel responses pursuant to R.C.W. 42.56 (PRA) and GR31.1.
By Date / (2`''
Terry . Jurado
Rento Municipal Court
Judg
By Date " 3
Ellen Bradley-Mak
City of Renton
Human Resources Administrator
Bylb') Date
/ AU / 7
Jan Hawn
City of Renton
Administrative Services Administrator
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