wa-law.org > bill > 2025-26 > SB 5863 > Original Bill

SB 5863 - Concerning the preservation and inspection of state historical records.

Source

Section 1

(1) The division of archives and records management, working with the University of Washington institute on human development and disability, the department of social and health services, and the department of archaeology and historic preservation, shall create a preservation plan to organize, catalogue, and store the historical documents and artifacts identified at Lakeland Village, a state-operated facility. Historical documents and artifacts may include but are not limited to medical records, letters, images, films, and artifacts of past residents with intellectual or developmental disabilities at Lakeland Village.

Section 2

  1. All public records, not required in the current operation of the office where they are made or kept, and all records of every agency, commission, committee, or any other activity of state government which may be abolished or discontinued, shall be transferred to the state archives so that the valuable historical records of the state may be centralized, made more widely available, and insured permanent preservation: PROVIDED, That this section shall have no application to public records approved for destruction under the subsequent provisions of this chapter.

When so transferred, copies of the public records concerned shall be made and certified by the archivist, which certification shall have the same force and effect as though made by the officer originally in charge of them. Fees may be charged to cover the cost of reproduction. In turning over the archives of his or her office, the officer in charge thereof, or his or her successor, thereby loses none of his or her rights of access to them, without charge, whenever necessary.

  1. Records that are confidential, privileged, or exempt from public disclosure under state or federal law while in the possession of the originating agency, commission, board, committee, or other entity of state or local government retain their confidential, privileged, or exempt status after transfer to the state archives unless the archivist, with the concurrence of the originating jurisdiction, determines that the records must be made accessible to the public according to proper and reasonable rules adopted by the secretary of state. After the expiration of 75 years from creation of the record, any restricted record that is transferred to archives under this chapter is open to inspection and available for copying.
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