March 19, 2009

House accepts Armstrong amendment on
bill limiting prisoner access to public records
Measure would help to protect correctional officers and their families

The House of Representatives approved a measure Wednesday that would limit the ability of inmates in state penitentiaries to make frivolous and excessive public records requests.

Rep. Mike Armstrong says prisoners have been using the state's Public Records Act to harass and intimidate persons in authority and their families, including correctional officers, law enforcement officials and judges.

"This issue is about inmates being able to access personal information about the people who are guarding them. Our intent with this legislation is to protect those people in authority over those prisoners," said Armstrong, R-Wenatchee.

"In committee, we heard from prison guards from Clallam Bay. They told us there's about a half dozen inmates abusing the system. Clallam Bay had to add a full-time staff person to meet the 350 thousand request forms. That is horrible abuse of the system," added Armstrong. "The prisoners have figured out it's a way to poke the system and create costs."

Armstrong offered an amendment to Senate Bill 5130, which would place restrictions on the type of information a prisoner could access.

"Under our current law, prisoners can access everything and anything about the people who are guarding them. That includes information about the jailers' families, their phone numbers and other personal information. It's a terrible form of intimidation and it puts Department of Corrections people at risk. This measure says prisoners can be denied those documents," added Armstrong.

The House approved Armstrong's amendment. Lawmakers then passed the bill 94-2. The measure has been sent back to the Senate for concurrence.

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