An agency must appoint a public records officer whose responsibility is to serve as a "point of contact" for members of the public seeking public records. RCW 42.56.580(1). The purpose of this requirement is to provide the public with one point of contact within the agency to make a request. A state agency must provide the public records officer's name and contact information by publishing it in the state register. RCW 42.56.580(2). A state agency is encouraged to provide the public records officer's contact information on its website. A local agency must publish the public records officer's name and contact information in a way reasonably calculated to provide notice to the public, such as posting it on the agency's website. RCW 42.56.580(3).

The public records officer is not required to personally fulfill requests for public records. A request can be fulfilled by an agency employee other than the public records officer. If the request is made to the public records officer, but should actually be fulfilled by others in the agency, the public records officer should route the request to the appropriate person or persons in the agency for processing. An agency is not required to hire a new staff member to be the public records officer.