Public Employees' Work-Related Texts From Private Phone Are Public Record, Washington State Supreme Court Rules
Work-related text messages sent from the private cellphone of a public employee are public record, the Washington state Supreme Court said in an en banc opinion Thursday. Under the ruling, Mark Lindquist, a Pierce County prosecutor, must turn over the…
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contents of work-related texts sent from his personal cellphone, as sought in public records requests by Glenda Nissen, Pierce County sheriff's detective. Nissen sued the county, claiming Lindquist barred her from his office after she criticized him and submitted records requests for his calls records and texts messages. Lindquist initially submitted a call record sheet and a similar sheet for his texts messages, but didn't include the contents of the messages. In the initial hearing, the trial judge sided with Lindquist, concluding text and call records on private cellphones are a private record. The state Supreme Court struck down that ruling, and ordered Lindquist to produce the contents of the requested text messages he sent in his capacity as prosecutor. The court said in its ruling: "Employees must produce any public records (emails, text messages, and any other type of data) to the employer['s] agency." Although he must turn over texts sent from his cellphone related to his public duties, Lindquist said in a statement Thursday that the ruling is a win for public servants. He said he's pleased with the ruling because it allows public employees to satisfy the court's requirement by completing a "good-faith search" for public records on personal devices, instead of allowing requestors to search through the private data. "This is a win for teachers, fire fighters, police officers and all of us who serve the public," said Lindquist. "Further, it's a win for all of us who care about constitutional rights and open government."