Public-domain · open source
OpenJurist

RCW 4.24.680

Unlawful release of court and law enforcement employee information—Exception.

Applied in 3 court decisions — leading case King County v. Sheehan (2002)

Most recently applied in 272 F. Supp. 2d 1135 - Sheehan v. Gregoire (May 2003)

2006 c 355 s 2; 2002 c 336 s 1.

(1) A person shall not knowingly make available on the world wide web the personal information of a peace officer, corrections person, justice, judge, commissioner, public defender, or prosecutor if the dissemination of the personal information poses an imminent and serious threat to the peace officer's, corrections person's, justice's, judge's, commissioner's, public defender's, or prosecutor's safety or the safety of that person's immediate family and the threat is reasonably apparent to the person making the information available on the world wide web to be serious and imminent.

(2) It is not a violation of this section if an employee of a county auditor or county assessor publishes personal information, in good faith, on the website of the county auditor or county assessor in the ordinary course of carrying out public functions.

(3) For the purposes of this section:

(a) "Commissioner" means a commissioner of the superior court, court of appeals, or supreme court.

(b) "Corrections person" means any employee or volunteer who by state, county, municipal, or combination thereof, statute has the responsibility for the confinement, care, management, training, treatment, education, supervision, or counseling of those whose civil rights have been limited in some way by legal sanction.

(c) "Immediate family" means a peace officer's, corrections person's, justice's, judge's, commissioner's, public defender's, or prosecutor's spouse, child, or parent and any other adult who lives in the same residence as the person.

(d) "Judge" means a judge of the United States district court, the United States court of appeals, the United States magistrate, the United States bankruptcy court, and the Washington court of appeals, superior court, district court, or municipal court.

(e) "Justice" means a justice of the United States supreme court or Washington supreme court.

(f) "Personal information" means a peace officer's, corrections person's, justice's, judge's, commissioner's, public defender's, or prosecutor's home address, home telephone number, pager number, social security number, home email address, directions to the person's home, or photographs of the person's home or vehicle.

(g) "Prosecutor" means a county prosecuting attorney, a city attorney, the attorney general, or a United States attorney and their assistants or deputies.

(h) "Public defender" means a federal public defender, or other public defender, and his or her assistants or deputies.

Official source: Washington State Legislature. Reproduced from public-domain Washington statutes; confirm against the official source for the current text. Not legal advice.