(1) Hours for inspection of records. Public records are available for inspection and copying by appointment, per WAC 139-02-090(9), during customary business hours of the commission. Records must be inspected at the Burien campus of the commission.

(2) Records index.

(a) The commission shall have available to all persons on its website a current index which provides identifying information as to the following records:

(i) No historical index exists for records issued before July 1, 1990;

(ii) Final orders entered after June 30, 1990, that are issued in adjunctive proceedings as defined in RCW 34.05.010(1) and contain an analysis or decision of substantial importance to the commission in carrying out its duties;

(iii) Declaratory orders entered after June 30, 1990, that are issued pursuant to RCW 34.05.240 and contain an analysis or decision of substantial importance to the commission in carrying out its duties;

(iv) Interpretive statements as defined in RCW 34.05.010(8) that were entered after June 30, 1990;

(v) Policy statements as defined in RCW 34.05.010(14) that were entered after June 30, 1990; and

(vi) Meeting minutes of the governing body of commission.

(b) The system of indexing shall be as follows:

(i) The indexing system shall be administered by the commission's public records officer.

(ii) The record indexes shall be available under the public record section on the commission's website for public inspection and copying.

(iii) The public records officer shall establish and maintain a separate index for each item of this subsection as follows:

(A) All final orders and declaratory orders determined by the commission to contain analyses or decisions of substantial importance to the commission shall be listed alphabetically by the titles of the hearing or controversy and shall contain a phrase describing the important issue or issues.

(B) Interpretive statements and policy statements shall be indexed by the applicable program.

(C) The meeting minutes of the governing body of the commission shall be indexed chronologically.

(iv) The public records officer shall update all indexes at least once a year and shall revise such indexes when deemed necessary.

(3) Organization and protection of records.

(a) The commission maintains its records in a reasonably organized manner and takes reasonable actions to protect records from damage and disorganization. If commission records are maintained in a digital format, they will be provided digitally in response to a public records request. If records are maintained and inspected on paper, a requestor may ask for copies.

(b) Records will be made available to the requestor for inspection subject to the following restrictions:

(i) Only the public records officer or designee will remove records from the designated inspection area.

(ii) The quantity of records may be limited in accordance with the available space.

(iii) All possible care shall be taken by the requestor to prevent damage to the records.

(iv) Records shall not be marked, altered, cut or mutilated in any way.

(v) During inspection, eating, drinking, and smoking are prohibited.

(vi) Records shall not be defaced in any way including writing on, folding or folding anew if in folded form, tracing or fastening with clips or other fasteners except those that already exist in the file.

(vii) Records must be kept in the order in which received.

(viii) Commission personnel will provide all requested copies of records.

(ix) The public records officer or designee will remove the records from the inspection area when no longer required by the requestor and no later than the end of the customary business hours.

(c) Records may be available on the commission website at cjtc.wa.gov. Requestors are encouraged to view the documents available on the website prior to submitting a records request.

(4) Making a request for public records.

(a) Any person wishing to inspect or obtain copies of public records of the commission shall make the request in writing using the commission public record request website, by letter, or email addressed to the public records officer. Each request should include the following information:

(i) Name of requestor;

(ii) Address of requestor;

(iii) The calendar date of the request;

(iv) Other contact information, including telephone number and/or an email address; and

(v) Identification or description of the public records adequate for the public records officer or designee to locate the records.

(b) Communications seeking commission records sent or provided to unauthorized locations, addresses or staff, will not be accepted or processed as public records request. Any such communication will be processed as general informal inquiries, general correspondence, general requests for information, or discovery as appropriate. The requestor may resubmit his/her request to the public records officer or designee at the Burien office during customary business hours.

(c) If the requestor wishes to have copies of the records made instead of inspecting them, the request should so indicate. Costs will be assessed in compliance with WAC 139-02-070.

(d) If requestors wish to inspect rather than obtain copies of records, they must indicate this preference in their requests and the requestor must follow the rules of requesting to inspect public records provided in WAC 139-02-090 (9).