HomeMy WebLinkAboutMunicipal Court - MOU Between Yakima Municipal Court and Executive Branch of the City of Yakima MEMORANDUM OF UNDERSTANDING
BETWEEN YAKIMA MUNICIPAL COURT
AND THE EXECUTIVE BRANCH OF THE CITY OF YAKIMA
The purpose of this Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) is to set forth the intent of
the parties when the Executive Branch of the City of Yakima receives a public records request
related to Yakima Municipal Court or its employees, pursuant to Court General Rule 31.1
(GR31.1).
This MOU recognizes that Yakima Municipal Court falls within the judicial branch, an
independent branch of government, and is not included within the definition of an "agency"
under the Public Records Act (PRA), Chapter 42.56 RCW.
The Executive is an "agency" under the PRA and must respond to requests for public
records. "Public record" includes any writing containing information relating to the conduct of
government or the performance of any governmental or proprietary function prepared, owned,
used, or retained by any state or local agency, regardless of physical form or characteristics.
RCW 42.17.020(42).
Some of Yakima Municipal Court's records are maintained exclusively by Yakima
Municipal Court.
Other Yakima Municipal Court records reside on Executive IT servers. The Executive is
an incidental custodian of these records and does not use them for any executive branch
purpose.
There are other instances where the Executive performs administrative functions, such
as processing of payroll and benefits or facilitating telecommunications, using or producing
records related to Yakima Municipal Court or its employees.
When the Executive receives a public records request related to Yakima Municipal Court
or its employees, the parties agree to employ the following process:
1. For requests for Yakima Municipal Court records that pertain exclusively to
Yakima Municipal Court that happen to reside on executive branch IT servers,
including telephone records, the Executive will notify the Yakima Municipal
Court that the request has been submitted. The Executive will inform the
requester that a response will be provided by the Public Records Officer
(PRO) of the Executive Branch, who will respond to the request in accordance
with GR 31.1.
2. In response to requests for records relating to Yakima Municipal Court or its
employees which are used by the Executive to perform administrative
functions, including payroll and benefits administration, the Executive will
promptly notify and provide a copy of the request to the PRO of the
Executive Branch and to the Yakima Municipal Court Manager. The Executive
will respond to the requester after conferring with Yakima Municipal Court.
B 14 ' - I I /' i/, By dnterim Susan J. Woodard, Presiding Judge Jeff Cu City Manager
Yakima Municipal Court City of akima
Date: 0 /46 Date: z f 3 /X015
CITY CONTRACT NO 1)//9-' :
RESOLUTION NO:,