Bartz v. Department of Corrections Public Disclosure Unit

297 P.3d 737, 173 Wash. App. 522
CourtCourt of Appeals of Washington
DecidedFebruary 12, 2013
DocketNos. 42478-9-II; 42485-1-II
StatusPublished
Cited by11 cases

This text of 297 P.3d 737 (Bartz v. Department of Corrections Public Disclosure Unit) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Washington primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Bartz v. Department of Corrections Public Disclosure Unit, 297 P.3d 737, 173 Wash. App. 522 (Wash. Ct. App. 2013).

Opinion

Hunt, J.

¶1 George Bartz appeals the superior court’s Order of Findings in his first Public Records Act (PRA)1 complaint and its Findings and Order of Dismissal in his second PRA complaint. He argues that the superior court erred in ruling that (1) the Department of Corrections (DOC) had complied with his public records requests, (2) his second complaint was unnecessary to obtain the information requested, (3) the PRA’s statute of limitations barred his second complaint, and (4) his second complaint was a “frivolous” action for the purposes of RCW 4.24.430.2 He further argues that the superior court erred in dismissing with prejudice his second complaint. We affirm the superior court’s findings related to Bartz’s first complaint and its dismissal of his second complaint. But we reverse the superior court’s determination that his second complaint [525]*525was “frivolous” and that it was a “strike” for purposes of RCW 4.24.430.3 Clerk’s Papers (CP) at 37.

FACTS

¶2 George Bartz is an inmate in DOC custody who filed three public records requests with DOC under the PRA. He later filed two superior court complaints based on what he perceived to be DOC’s incomplete or improper responses to his PRA requests. The superior court ruled that DOC had complied with Bartz’s requests and that the statute of limitations barred his second complaint.

I. PRA Requests

A. First Request

¶3 On June 12, 2009, Bartz filed his first public records request with DOC’s Public Disclosure Unit (PDU), requesting six groups of documents relating to inmate personal clothing. Specifically, Bartz requested (1) all documents “used by Eldon Vail, Secretary DOC, in his references to saving the Department ‘six figures’ by taking away personal clothing from inmates”; (2) all documents relating to the maintenance costs of washing machines used by inmates for personal clothing; (3) all documents relating to projected cost increases of “doing laundry for inmates after personal clothing is taken”; (4) all documents that show the costs of laundry services for 2007 and 2008; (5) all documents that show actual or projected cost of providing inmates with “sweat shirts, sweat pants, [pajamas], night gowns, bathrobes, shorts and any other new clothing items the Department intends to issue inmates”; and (6) all documents that show the “proposed cost of fighting possible [526]*526litigation due to the implementation of the proposed matrix change.”4 CP at 9.

¶4 Twelve days later, on June 24, DOC assigned Bartz’s PRA request tracking number PDU-7362. Approximately two weeks later, DOC sent Bartz a letter stating that it had gathered 250 pages for the first installment and that it would send these pages to Bartz once he sent the $52.07 payment. Bartz responded to DOC by letter on July 13, (1) taking exception to DOC’s “piece-meal” response and high number of pages, (2) sending no money to pay for the copies ready in the first installment, and (3) explaining that he would “await [DOC’s] response . . . and then submit the funds.” CP at 64. DOC responded to Bartz’s letter5 by offering to deduct $18.09 from the outstanding balance on his claim (PDU-7362), leaving $33.98 as the total owed. Bartz then sent DOC a check for $33.98, which DOC received on August 24. That same day, DOC sent Bartz the first installment of the requested records.

¶5 Also on August 24, DOC sent Bartz a letter stating that in response to the second half of his request, it had located 231 pages; DOC also asked for payment of $52.45. Bartz responded in a letter, complaining that the documents in his first installment were not complete, that they were full of duplicates, and that he would file a tort claim. Nevertheless, Bartz sent payment for the documents responding to the second half of his request, again complaining about the first installment and stating his intention to file a lawsuit. On September 9, DOC sent Bartz the second installment of the records, informing him that its response to his PRA request was complete.

[527]*527B. Second Request

¶6 Bartz uses glucosamine/chondroitin to relieve pain from osteoarthritis in his knees. In 2005, DOC stopped providing the glucosamine/chondroitin supplement to inmates. Despite DOC’s response to Bartz’s inquiries that glucosamine/chondroitin supplements would be added back to the inmate store at some point, it had not happened by fall 2009. On October 4, 2009, Bartz filed a second public records request with DOC about the availability of glucosamine/chondroitin in the inmate store, seeking (1) “all documents, in the form of emails, faxes, letters, or [memos] dealing with the inclusion of the herbal supplement, [g]lucosamine/[c]hondroitin as a salable item by the [i]n-mate [s] tores, under the jurisdiction of DOC, by any and all persons employed by DOC”; and (2) “all documents, in the form of emails, faxes, letters, [memos] or policies relating to the sale of‘oils’ by inmate stores.” CP at 154.

¶7 DOC assigned this PRA request tracking number PDU-8623. DOC sent Bartz notice that it had located 66 pages of responsive records and that it would send the records once he sent payment of $15.61. Bartz sent payment on December 22,2009; DOC sent the documents on January 4, 2010.

¶8 On January 8, Bartz sent a letter to DOC, (1) alleging that his second records request was incomplete because he had in his possession “emails” between two DOC employees6 that were not included in the documents he had received, and (2) complaining that he also had received some duplicate documents. CP at 165. DOC responded, asking Bartz to supply the names of the staff and the dates of the missing e-mails so it could perform a search. Bartz refused to provide any identifying information about the [528]*528staff or the requested e-mails. On January 28, DOC responded to Bartz again by setting out his request and informing him that although the e-mail strings he possessed had similar information, the pages were not duplicates. According to DOC, it did not receive any more contact from Bartz about this request.7

C. Third Request

¶9 Two weeks after Bartz filed his second PRA request with DOC (October 4, 2009), he filed a third public records request on October 22, broadly outlining four groups of information that he sought about tort claims filed against DOC. Specifically, he requested (1) “all documents/forms relating to TORT claims filed by any inmate within DOC for the years 2007 to date of this letter, that relate to personal clothing claims”; (2) “all documents, in any form, that relate to the cost of the research done to validate TORT claims addressed in GROUP ONE, and the amount of com[529]*529pensation paid on all valid claims, if it is not listed on the claims form”; (3) information about “the total number of claims investigated under GROUP ONE. Documents relating to claims found invalid are not requested, nor wanted, just the number of claims investigated”; and (4) “the documentation concerning fees paid for [adjudication] of all valid TORT claims.

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Bluebook (online)
297 P.3d 737, 173 Wash. App. 522, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/bartz-v-department-of-corrections-public-disclosure-unit-washctapp-2013.