EXPLAINER · PROCESS
How to Request Public Records
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A step-by-step guide to asking the City of Kirkland for emails, contracts, permit files and other public records.
Looking for a city email, contract, permit file or report? You have a legal right to ask for it, and you don't have to explain why. This guide walks you through filing a request with the City of Kirkland, step by step.
File your request here:
Online: Kirkland Public Records Center
Email: PublicRecords@kirklandwa.gov
Phone for help: 425-587-3190
Police records: policepdr@kirklandwa.gov
Step by step
Check whether it's already public. Kirkland posts most past requests, and the records released for them, in the public archive on the Public Records Center. Council agendas, packets, minutes and meeting video are online too, and our guide to reading a council packet shows where to look. Someone may already have asked your question.
Decide where it goes. Most city records go to the City's Public Records Officer. Police records, such as incident reports and body camera video, go to the Kirkland Police Department's public disclosure office instead.
Write down what you want. Be specific about who, what and when. Name the document if you know it, give a date range, and for email, say whose email to search and which words to look for. The tips and sample wording below will help.
Submit it. The quickest way is the Submit a Request page on the Public Records Center, where you set up an account, enter your request and track it. You can also email PublicRecords@kirklandwa.gov or mail a letter to the Public Records Officer, 123 Fifth Avenue, Kirkland, WA 98033. Messages on the city's social media accounts don't count as requests.
Watch for a reply within five business days. The city will send the records, give you an estimate of when they'll be ready, ask you to clarify, or explain in writing why it's denying the request. Read any summary of your request closely. The city treats its written version as the official scope unless you correct it.
Open each batch within 30 days. Big requests arrive in installments. If you don't open or claim one within 30 days, the city will check in, and after 14 more days of silence it can close the whole request, including batches still to come. Set a calendar reminder each time a notice arrives.
Check any redactions. Every blacked-out passage or withheld record should come with the specific legal exemption and a short explanation. If a reason is missing or doesn't seem to fit, you can ask for a review.
Writing a request that gets results
The city searches for what you describe, so your wording does most of the work. A few habits help:
Say it's a records request. A line such as "This is a request for public records under chapter 42.56 RCW" leaves no doubt.
Ask for records, not answers. The law covers documents that already exist. The city doesn't have to answer questions, do research or create something new for you. "Why did the city pick this site?" isn't a records request. "Emails about the site selection from March 1 to June 30, 2026" is.
Give a date range. Open-ended requests are the slowest kind.
For email, name the people and the words. List whose email should be searched, by name or job title, and add a few keywords. Without them, staff may have to read through thousands of messages.
Ask for electronic copies. They're usually the cheapest and quickest option.
Stick to one subject per request. Two small requests tend to move faster than one sprawling one.
You're welcome to copy and adapt these. For email:
Under the Public Records Act, chapter 42.56 RCW, I request electronic copies of emails sent or received by [name or title] between [date] and [date] that contain the words "[term]" or "[term]."
For documents:
Under chapter 42.56 RCW, I request electronic copies of the signed contract, any amendments, and all invoices paid under the City's agreement with [company] for [project].
For a property or permit:
Under chapter 42.56 RCW, I request electronic copies of the permit application, plans, inspection records and correspondence for [address or permit number].
How long it takes
For anything beyond a simple request, expect the first reply to be a time estimate. Kirkland sorts every request into one of five categories, each with its own time goal:
| Category | What it covers | Time goal |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Public safety requests | Right away or the next business day |
| 2 | Simple requests for records that are easy to find | Usually within five business days |
| 3 | Requests with many records, several departments or routine redactions | Roughly 5 to 30 business days |
| 4 | Complex requests that need legal review or searching across departments | 30 days to several months |
| 5 | The most complex requests | Longer than several months |
These are goals rather than deadlines, and the city has to tell you if it's going to miss one.
What it costs
Many requests cost little or nothing, and looking at records in person at City Hall is free. When there are charges, Kirkland's fee schedule sets them at:
10 cents a page for scanned records
5 cents for every four electronic files sent by email or online
10 cents per gigabyte for records sent electronically
15 cents a page for paper copies
The city can choose to charge a flat fee of up to $2 instead, and it may waive any fee under $5. For large jobs, it can ask for a deposit of up to 10% of the estimated cost before it starts, and it can ask you to pay for each installment before releasing it.
If something is withheld
Some information is legally protected. Common examples include private personal details, legal advice from the city attorney, some drafts and opinions written while a policy is still being worked out, and records tied to active investigations. Other state laws add exemptions of their own, and Kirkland's rules list them.
What the city can't do is black something out without saying why. Kirkland's rules say the explanation should be clear enough for you to judge whether the exemption was used properly. If a redaction comes with no reason attached, ask for one.
If you disagree with a denial, write to the Public Records Officer and ask for a review. A team made up of the city manager, the finance and administration director, the public records officer and the city attorney looks at it. For a denial, the team has until the end of the second business day after your petition arrives. You can also go to court at any point. Judges can award penalties of up to $100 a day for records wrongly withheld, though most people never get anywhere near that stage.
Good to know before you file
Your request is public. The city's own FAQ says so plainly. Once a request arrives, it becomes a public record, and Kirkland posts both completed and pending requests online. Write yours knowing a neighbor might read it.
You don't have to say why. State law bars the city from requiring a reason, apart from narrow cases where another law limits who can receive certain records. The one most people run into: the city can't hand over lists of individuals for commercial use, so it may ask about that.
Missed records get a new number. If the city later finds records it should have sent, it opens a new request and sends them on a faster track. If you think of something to add after a request closes, that's a new request too.
Why the rules matter
The Public Records Act depends on one simple arrangement. The person handling your request answers to the law, not to the people whose records are being requested. Kirkland's rules build that in. They name a Public Records Officer as your point of contact, require a written reason for every redaction, and give you a way to challenge a decision inside City Hall before anyone needs a lawyer.
It also depends on the people who do this work. Records officers spend their days finding, reviewing and releasing documents for anyone who asks, often under tight deadlines and with requests that range from a single permit to years of email. A clear, well-scoped request makes their job easier and gets you your records sooner.
Have you filed a request with the city, or are you thinking about it? What one neighbor learns can help the next one write a better request.
Sources & public records
Last updated: October 2026.
Washington State Legislature, Public Records Act, chapter 42.56 RCW
City of Kirkland, Public Records Act Rules (2024, PDF): request steps, categories and time goals, fees, exemptions and review
City of Kirkland, Request Public Records
City of Kirkland, Public Records Center: request portal, FAQs and public archive
Washington Attorney General, Model Rules on Public Records, chapter 44-14 WAC
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