A 2018 Public Records Act request sought the identities of Seattle police officers who attended a political event. The officers sued to block disclosure. After a 2023 Court of Appeals ruling that would have required agencies to proactively assert constitutional privacy on behalf of third parties, the Washington Supreme Court reversed in March 2025. The court held that public employees have no protected privacy interest in attending highly public events and that agencies are not obligated to assert constitutional exemptions for third parties. The burden shifts back to the officers themselves to seek injunctions.
What happened
In 2018, a member of the public filed a Public Records Act request with the Seattle Police Department seeking records that would identify SPD officers who had attended a high-profile political event. The officers learned of the request through SPD's notice procedures and filed suit as John Does to block disclosure. The trial court ruled against the officers. The Court of Appeals reversed in 2023, holding that the agency itself had to assert constitutional privacy interests on behalf of the third-party officers before releasing the records. That ruling shifted significant burden onto agencies to make constitutional calls about employee privacy. In March 2025, the Washington Supreme Court reversed the Court of Appeals and reinstated the trial court's decision. The court held two things. First, public employees have no constitutionally protected privacy interest in attending a highly public event. Second, an agency is not obligated to assert constitutional privacy exemptions on behalf of third parties when responding to a PRA request. The agency's duty is to provide notice. The burden of seeking an injunction sits with the affected officer.
What happened
In 2018, a member of the public filed a Public Records Act request with the Seattle Police Department. The request sought records that would identify SPD officers who had attended a high-profile political event. The officers learned through SPD's third-party notice process. They sued, as John Does, to block release.
The trial court ruled against the officers. The Court of Appeals reversed in 2023, holding that the agency itself had to assert constitutional privacy interests on behalf of the third-party officers before releasing the records.
That ruling sat for almost two years before the Washington Supreme Court took it up.
The 2025 reversal
In March 2025, the Washington Supreme Court reversed the Court of Appeals and reinstated the trial court's decision. Two holdings matter for every officer in Washington.
First, public employees have no constitutionally protected privacy interest in attending a highly public event. Showing up to a public political gathering is not the kind of activity the state constitution shields.
Second, an agency is not obligated to assert constitutional privacy exemptions on behalf of third parties. The agency's job is to provide notice under RCW 42.56.540. Once notice is given, the burden of seeking an injunction sits with the affected officer.
Why this case matters
This is the clearest recent appellate articulation of where state public-records statutes stop protecting officer identities. PRA-style laws in Washington and most states default to disclosure. Carve-outs exist. Agencies can flag obvious exemptions. But agencies are not your lawyer. They will not litigate on your behalf.
The 2023 appeals reading would have forced every Washington agency into a different role. The Supreme Court rejected that. The agency provides notice. After that, you are on your own.
What this means for officers in Washington
If you are a sworn officer in Washington, your agency has a notice procedure under RCW 42.56.540. When a PRA request implicates records about you, you should get notified. Confirm with your agency's legal or PIO unit how the notice is delivered. Some email. Some mail. Some require you to opt in.
Once you get notice, the clock is on you. If you want to block release, you have to file your own action and seek an injunction. The agency will not do it. The agency will not delay release indefinitely while you decide.
What this case does not change
Statutory exemptions still apply. Washington's PRA carves out specific officer info from disclosure. Home addresses, family info, and certain personnel records are still protected by statute. The Does case is about constitutional privacy, not the statutory framework.
The case also does not change the broader threat model. PRA disclosure is one channel. Broker pages are another. The same info that PRA carve-outs protect can still appear on Spokeo or Whitepages because the broker pulled it from a different source.
What an officer should do
Three things.
First, confirm how third-party PRA notice reaches you and keep your contact info current. Missing a notice is the same as agreeing to disclosure.
Second, identify in advance which statutory exemptions apply to your role. Edge cases are on you. Knowing the statute means you can move fast when the notice arrives.
Third, address the broker pipeline. Statutory PRA exemptions do not reach the commercial broker layer. Broker opt-outs do. We file across 200+ broker sites and re-check biweekly. See Washington's state page for what's available.
The court has told you who is responsible for protecting your name in a Washington public-records response. It is you.
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What would have prevented this
The Washington Supreme Court ruling makes one thing clear for officers in WA. Under RCW 42.56.540, the agency provides you notice when records implicating you are requested. After that, the agency is done. You carry the burden of going to court and seeking an injunction yourself. If you ignore the notice, the records get released. If you wait too long, the records get released. Officers in WA need to monitor PRA notices about themselves and be ready to act on their own. The broader pattern matters too. State public-records statutes are not built to protect officer identities. They are built to make government records available. Agency notice plus self-help injunctions is the structure. Knowing that, and being ready to act on it, is the difference between staying out of a record and ending up in one. We track the appellate landscape on PRA and FOIA exposure across all 50 states. The defensive layer that does not depend on a court is continuous broker removal. We file opt-outs across 200+ broker sites and re-run the demands when listings come back. If a PRA disclosure does happen, the broker pipeline is the chain that turns your name into your home address.
Public sources
- Washington Supreme Court Clarifies Agency Obligations Regarding Constitutional PRA Exemptions — Municipal Research and Services Center (MRSC), 2025-03-20
- John Does v. Seattle Police Department — Justia, 2025-03-20