§7.4 Categorical Or Conditional Exemption Analysis

• Jurisdiction: Washington

§7.4 CATEGORICAL OR CONDITIONAL EXEMPTION ANALYSIS

In Resident Action Council v. Seattle Housing Authority (RAC), 177 Wn.2d 417, 300 P.3d 376 (2013), republished as amended, 327 P.3d 600 (2014), the court announced a frame work for analyzing PRA exemptions according to whether they are "categorical" or "conditional." A disclosure exemption is "categorical" if it exempts a particular type of information or record "without limit," whereas it is "conditional" if it exempts a type of information or record "only insofar as an identified privacy right or vital governmental interest is demonstrably threatened in a given case." Id. at 434. RCW 42.56.240(2), exempting "[information revealing the identity of persons who are ... victims of crime ... if disclosure would endanger any person's life, physical safety, or property," was mentioned as an example of a conditional exemption. Id.

Once a record has been properly...