Washington state Attorney General Nick Brown has named 22-year department veteran Morgan Damerow as the agency's chief transparency officer. He will lead the office’s new Public Records and Open Government Unit. 

Nominations are now open for WashCOG’s annual Kenneth F. Bunting Award for outstanding journalism in the interest of government transparency.

The Washington Court of Appeals is weighing arguments in a challenge of “legislative privilege” to withhold records from the public. See WashCOG’s analysis of the case and the hearing by attorneys and advocates.

Yakima Valley College has agreed to pay John Tappan Menard, a former history instructor at the college, $340,000 to settle a public records lawsuit filed by Menard in 2024.

WashCOG joined news media, public records officers, attorneys and others in testifying on proposed Model Public Records Act Rules. The attorney general’s office has proposed changes in managing requests balance workload and demand.

The Washington Coalition for Open Government applauds the decision announced today by the Office of Attorney General Nick Brown to create a Public Records and Open Government Unit under its direction and hire a chief transparency counsel to lead it. 

Rep. Jeremie Dufault is the ninth legislator to pledge not to use the secrecy “privilege” that runs counter to the state Public Records Act. WashCOG is honoring him with the Ballard-Thompson Award for his commitment to transparency.

State Rep. Gerry Pollet, a longtime WashCOG board member, was honored with the Freedom’s Light Award by the Washington Newspaper Publishers Association for his long advocacy of transparency.

Timely op/eds on ongoing access issues appeared recently in The Northern Light and The Seattle Times.

Our September 2025 newsletter is out, with updates on Olympia’s efforts at secrecy, the governor’s overdue policy on message retention and WashCOG’s renewed efforts to reach out to other advocates of access.

Gov. Bob Ferguson will “soon” announce a decision on whether state agencies can resume auto-deleting internal electronic messages, his aide told some media. But does that mean days, weeks or months? And will his decision promote transparency?

Our state Legislature’s march toward secrecy is speeding up, despite lawsuits, massive public outcry and even a ruling that was largely against them from the state Supreme Court.

The Washington Coalition for Open Government is appalled at the new state House of Representatives’ policy allowing legislators to immediately delete a growing number of emails and auto-delete many more after 30 days.

The Washington State Supreme Court has ruled that state collective bargaining agreements are exempt from the Public Records Act, supporting a state agency that withheld documents using a technicality in the law.

After settling a PRA lawsuit against Western Washington University last year, three alumni have used the funds to establish a permanent endowment for student investigative journalism at the university. (Photo from their 2019 announcement of the suit.)

The Spring 2025 newsletter offers WashCOG’s take on the recently-completed legislative session, our successful Sunshine Breakfast and ongoing battle against “legislative privilege.”

The Washington state Public Records Act collided with a parental claim of privacy on May 2, 2025 during an hour-long online hearing in Douglas County Superior Court.

At issue is whether public records routinely available for a vehicle crash should be provided to the media or if a third party could block disclosure because a minor was involved.

Melissa Luck, news director of KXLY 4 News in Spokane, has been named a Key Award winner for her consistent advocacy for open government as a broadcast journalist in Washington. She has been with the station for 22 years, and is known for her passion about journalism and, particularly, local news.

WashCOG is urging transparency advocates this week to call members of the Senate Ways & Means Committee to ask that they pass SB 5400, “Supporting Local News Journalism.” Local news nourishes our democracy, keeping citizens and residents informed about ongoing issues — and this bill gives them a needed financial hand.

WashCOG will honor Sen. Mike Chapman with the Ballard-Thompson Award for pledging not to withhold information from the public through a bogus dodge to the Public Records Act that legislators are calling “legislative privilege.”