Under Washington’s Public Records Act (PRA), RCW 42.56.240 allows law enforcement to categorically withhold investigative records if nondisclosure is “essential to effective law enforcement.” Courts have recognized a narrow “categorical” exemption: while an investigation is still open and active, the entire investigative file can be withheld because disclosure could compromise the work.
But a September 23, 2025, unpublished decision by the Washington Court of Appeals, Division Three, in Rodriguez v. Walla Walla Police Department, is a reminder for cities that the categorical nature of the exemption is lost when the investigation of a case is referred to the prosecutor for a charging decision. Crucially, the case also emphasized that the categorical exemption can’t be resurrected if a prosecutor later dismisses the charges and sends the case back to police for further investigation.
Rodriquez concerned investigative records requested in 2022 after the subject of the investigation was already referred to the prosecutor. The Walla Walla Police Department (WWPD) argued that the records should be treated as categorically exempt because the prosecutor had dismissed the murder charge in 2023, and the investigation had resumed.
Citing Sargent v. Seattle Police Department, 179 Wn.2d 376, 386 (2013), the Court of Appeals explained that “[t]he fact that the prosecutor declined to file charges and requested the SPD to conduct further investigation is of no import. Cowles recognized that referral to prosecutors signals the police’s conclusion of its investigation and is a bright line for termination of the categorical exemption . . . .”
The police department was ordered to provide Rodriquez an exemption log that sufficiently identified the records not disclosed and the reasons supporting nondisclosure. According to the Court of Appeals, if Rodriquez were to challenge the nondisclosures, the trial court “must conduct an in camera review of the records to determine whether WWPD has satisfied its burden of showing that nondisclosure is essential to law enforcement or the protection of privacy.”
Takeaway:
Once an investigation has reached the stage where police have referred charges to prosecutors, the rationale for blanket nondisclosure weakens. Cities cannot revive categorical nondisclosure just because a case file is returned for further investigation.
