HUNT, P.J.
¶ 1 The Department of Social and Health Services (DSHS) appeals the trial court's final order and finding that DSHS violated the Public Records Act (PRA)
¶ 2 On March 26, 2007, Amber Wright wrote to the State of Washington Department of Social and Health Services (DSHS), requesting "a copy of her entire DSHS file." Clerk's Papers (CP) at 145. Within several days, DSHS replied, informing Wright that she would have to sign a release to obtain the records and that she would receive them under chapter 13.50 RCW.
CP at 154.
¶ 3 Over one year later, on May 20, 2008, Wright sent a second request to DSHS, stating, "Pursuant to [chapter] RCW 42.56 et seq. and [chapter] RCW 13.50 et seq., please consider this an official request pursuant to the Washington State Public Disclosure Statutes for any and all documents relating to Amber Wright." CP at 11. More specifically the letter requested:
CP at 11.
¶ 4 Approximately one week later, DSHS notified Wright that (1) her Children's Administration records were confidential and exempt from public disclosure under chapter 42.56 RCW but her authorization permitted disclosure under chapter 13.50 RCW; and (2) she could expect to receive the other requested records within 120 business days.
¶ 5 In December 2009, under RCW 13.50.100, DSHS provided a transcribed copy of a 2005 CD-recorded interview with Wright. DSHS informed Wright that the recording had not been included in its response to Wright's May 20, 2008 request because the interview had "only recently been located," and DSHS was trying to determine how this recording had been missed in its original search. CP at 221.
¶ 6 On April 6, 2010, Wright sued DSHS for alleged violations of the PRA. She asserted that DSHS had failed to produce certain required documents in response to her PRA requests, such as the 2005 interview and "other critical evidence, including investigative protocols and policies, requested by [Wright]." CP at 4. At trial, Wright claimed that DSHS should have provided its Child Sexual and Physical Abuse Investigation Protocols (investigation protocols) and its Preservice Training for Prospective Foster Parents and Adoptive Parents PRIDE manual (PRIDE manual) in response to her PRA requests, and that its failure to do so entitled Wright to PRA penalties.
¶ 7 In January 2011, DSHS moved for partial summary judgment, arguing that (1) all of the records DSHS provided in response to Wright's March 26, 2007 request were child welfare records, governed by RCW 13.50.100 and, thus, not subject to her PRA action; and (2) all of the records that DSHS had provided in response to her May 20, 2008 request, except for 69 pages,
¶ 8 The case proceeded to a bench trial. The trial court ruled that DSHS violated the PRA by failing to provide the recorded interview and transcription, the PRIDE manual, and the investigation protocols in response to Wright's PRA requests. The trial court also concluded that DSHS had violated the PRA by failing to provide a privilege log identifying each record that it had withheld from Wright. The trial court awarded Wright penalties of $100.00 a day, totaling $287,800.00; $16,096.87 in litigation costs; and attorney fees, with a lodestar
¶ 9 DSHS first argues that, because Wright never asked DSHS to produce its PRIDE manual and investigation protocols documents, the trial court erred in concluding that (1) Wright's PRA action was timely filed, and (2) DSHS violated the PRA by failing to provide Wright with those documents. We agree with the State: The record shows Wright's PRA request did not include the PRIDE manual or investigation protocols. We hold, therefore, that the trial court erred in concluding that DSHS had violated the PRA by failing to provide these unrequested documents.
¶ 10 We review de novo challenged agency responses to PRA requests. RCW 42.56.550(3). Thus, we stand in the same position as the trial court. O'Connor v. Dep't of Soc. & Health Servs., 143 Wn.2d 895, 904, 25 P.3d 426 (2001). The PRA requires agencies to respond to requests for only "identifiable public records." RCW 42.56.080; see also Hangartner v. City of Seattle, 151 Wn.2d 439, 447-48, 90 P.3d 26 (2004). A party seeking public records under the PRA must, "at a minimum, provide notice that the request is made pursuant to the [PRA] and identify the documents with reasonable clarity to allow the agency to locate them." Hangartner, 151 Wash.2d at 447, 90 P.3d 26.
¶ 11 On March 26, 2007, Wright submitted her first request to DSHS, seeking "her entire DSHS file." CP at 145. On June 1, DSHS sent her a five-volume file that contained her children's juvenile administrative records, which DSHS explained it was providing under the juvenile records act, chapter 13.50 RCW, rather than under the PRA, chapter 42.56 RCW. More than one year later, on May 20, 2008, Wright submitted a second request to DSHS, seeking "any and all documents relating to Amber Wright." CP at 11. DSHS responded to Wright's second request by again providing under chapter 13.50 RCW a series of disclosures related to her children's juvenile administrative records.
As our Supreme Court has explained,
Hangartner, 151 Wash.2d at 448, 90 P.3d 26 (emphasis added). The PRIDE manual and investigation protocols provide general
¶ 12 Wright's request for document production neither expressly mentioned nor identified with "reasonable clarity" the manual or the protocols; on the contrary, its language limited her request to a broad range of materials specifically related to the 2005 investigation of a CPS referral when she was a child.
¶ 13 DSHS next argues that of the four records in dispute, production of two of them — her recorded interview and its transcription — are governed exclusively by chapter 13.50 RCW; and, therefore, the trial court erred in ruling that DSHS should have provided them to Wright in response to her PRA request. Again, we agree.
¶ 14 We review de novo questions of law, including statutory construction. Pasco v. Pub. Employment Relations Comm'n, 119 Wn.2d 504, 507, 833 P.2d 381 (1992). We look to a statute's plain language to give effect to legislative intent. Lacey Nursing Ctr., Inc. v. Dep't of Revenue, 128 Wn.2d 40, 53, 905 P.2d 338 (1995). When faced with an unambiguous statute, we derive the legislature's intent from the plain language alone. Waste Mgmt. of Seattle, Inc. v. Util. & Transp. Comm'n, 123 Wn.2d 621, 629, 869 P.2d 1034 (1994). When faced with two controlling statutes, the more specific one controls. Waste Mgmt., 123 Wash.2d at 630, 869 P.2d 1034.
¶ 15 Generally, the PRA favors broad disclosure of public records and requires state agencies to disclose and to produce public records on request unless an exception applies. West v. Wash. State Dep't of Natural Res., 163 Wn.App. 235, 242, 258 P.3d 78 (2011), review denied, 173 Wn.2d 1020, 272 P.3d 850 (2012); see RCW 42.56.070(1). But because the PRA applies only to public records, we first must determine whether two juvenile records
RCW 42.56.010(3). Because DSHS prepared, used, or retained the juvenile records
¶ 16 DSHS contends that the PRA does not apply to and, therefore, did not require production of Wright's recorded interview and transcription because chapter 13.50 RCW prescribes the exclusive method for procuring juvenile records and, thus, separately exempts these juvenile records from the PRA's disclosure requirements and penalties. We agree.
¶ 17 The PRA provides that a requested record may be exempt from disclosure if the record is controlled by any "other statute which exempts or prohibits disclosure of specific information or records." RCW 42.56.070(1) (emphasis added). RCW 13.50.100(2) expressly provides: "Records covered by this section shall be confidential and shall be released
¶ 18 Similarly, in In re Dependency of K.B., the petitioner "agree[d] that chapter 13.50 RCW controls the process but argue[d] that it does not control the sanctions that may be imposed for [DSHS's] improper failure to disclose" requested juvenile records.
KB., 150 Wash.App. at 923, 210 P.3d 330. We further noted that the legislature passed chapter 13.50 RCW to specify the exclusive "process, including sanctions, for obtaining juvenile justice and care agency records, after the PRA." KB., 150 Wash.App. at 923, 210 P.3d 330. Here, we similarly hold that the PRA does not provide Wright with an applicable remedy for her unsupported claim that DSHS violated the PRA, based on its alleged "late" disclosure of the audio recorded interview and its transcription, available only under chapter 13.50 RCW.
¶ 19 Because the legislature has prescribed chapter 13.50 RCW as the sole method for obtaining juvenile records maintained under that chapter, we hold that (1) the PRA did not apply to DSHS's production of her interview recording and transcription; (2) DSHS did not violate the PRA in failing to disclose these requested items until it later found them; and (3) Wright was not entitled to any PRA awards for DSHS's nonexistent noncompliance.
¶ 20 Nevertheless, Wright argues that (1) "[a]t trial, DSHS offered
¶ 21 Contrary to Wright's first argument, a DSHS representative testified at trial that the CD containing the recorded interview had been found in Wright's Children's Administration file,
¶ 22 Contrary to Wright's second argument, DSHS does not claim that all of its records are exempt from disclosure under the PRA; instead, it argues that, of the records in dispute here, only Wright's juvenile dependency recorded interview and transcription are exempt from the PRA, by virtue of chapter 13.50 RCW. DSHS is correct: Under the legislature's express language, chapter 13.50 RCW controls "access to all records and information collected or retained by a juvenile justice or care agency which pertain to the juvenile." RCW 13.50.100(7).
¶ 23 We do not address Wright's third argument, including her narrow reading of our decision in Deer. Deer involved dependency records under chapter 13.50 RCW. Deer, 122 Wash.App. at 86, 93 P.3d 195. The CD and interview transcription here are also dependency records under chapter 13.50
¶ 24 Because Wright's recorded interview was available to her only under chapter 13.50 RCW, DSHS's failure to produce it in response to her PRA request cannot serve as the basis for a PRA violation. On the contrary, if Wright believed that DSHS had improperly denied her access to her recorded interview, she had to comply with the process set forth in RCW 13.50.100(8), which requires filing a motion in juvenile court requesting access to these records. Deer, 122 Wash. App. at 94, 93 P.3d 195 ("A party denied access to juvenile records must follow the procedures set forth in chapter 13.50 RCW."). This she failed to do; instead, she pursued her interview recording and transcription only under the PRA, which did not apply. Accordingly, we hold that the trial court erred in ruling that the PRA required DSHS to provide Wright's recorded interview and transcription in response to her PRA request, that DSHS thereby violated the PRA, and that PRA penalties were warranted.
¶ 25 We reverse the trial court's final order finding that DSHS violated the PRA, and we reverse the trial court's PRA award of attorney fees, colts, and penalties to Wright.
We concur: PENOYAR, and BJORGEN, JJ.
CP at 11-12 (emphasis added). Wright argues that the above bolded language required DSHS to disclose the investigative protocols and PRIDE manual. But the second half of this sentence clarifies that Wright was seeking case-specific documents and not general internal guidance manuals and protocols.