The Thurston County Courthouse
Thurston County has created a public records unit in the prosecuting attorney’s office to handle records requests to ensure the county is in compliance with state law.
It is imperative the county is in compliance with the laws dealing with public records requests because it is liable for all mistakes regardless of the intent, Prosecuting Attorney Jon Tunheim said at the commissioners meeting last Tuesday. The county would also have to pay any fines out of the general fund because it is not covered by insurance.
The deputy prosecutor who leads the unit, Karen Horowitz, said the county received 300 public records requests in October, which took 180 hours of staff time — not counting the time of unit staff — to fill. Since Sept. 21, the unit has received all the requests for the county. The unit works with the relevant department to fill the requests, she said. In addition, the unit handles all the correspondence with the requester.
“As requester it gives them a single point of contact,” Horowitz said.
