Public records shall be available for inspection and copying, and the department shall, upon request for identifiable public records, make them promptly available to any person including, if applicable, on a partial or installment basis as records that are part of a larger set of requested records are assembled or made ready for inspection or disclosure. The department shall not deny a request for identifiable public records solely on the basis that the request is overbroad. The department shall not distinguish among persons requesting records, and such persons shall not be required to provide information as to the purpose for the request except to establish whether inspection and copying would violate RCW 42.56.070(8) or 42.56.240(14), or other statute which exempts or prohibits disclosure of specific information or records to certain persons. The department facilities shall be made available to any person for the copying of public records except when and to the extent that this would unreasonably disrupt the operations of the agency. The department shall honor requests received in person during the department's normal office hours, or by mail or email, for identifiable public records unless exempted by provisions of this chapter. No official format is required for making a records request; however, the department may recommend that requestors submit requests using an agency provided form or web page. RCW 42.56.080.

The department may deny a "bot" request (a request that an agency reasonably believes was automatically generated by a computer program or script), when it is one of multiple requests from the requestor received within a twenty-four-hour period. RCW 42.56.080(3). The department must establish that responding would cause excessive interference with other department essential functions.

Requests for public records must be for "identifiable" records. A request for all or substantially all of the department's records is not a valid public records request, provided that a request for all records regarding a particular topic or containing a particular keyword or name shall not be considered a request for all the department's records. RCW 42.56.080.