Padgett v. Department of Corrections

9 Wn.App.2d 1040

TRAVIS LEE PADGETT, Appellant/Cross-Respondent v. DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTIONS, Respondent/Cross-Appellant

No. 51081-2-II

Court of Appeals of Washington, Division 2

June 25, 2019

UNPUBLISHED OPINION

Sutton, J.

This appeal arises from inmate Travis Lee Padgett's Public Records Act request (PRA)^[1] to the Department of Corrections (DOC) for alleged PRA violations related to his request for his telephone records. Padgett appeals, arguing that the trial court erred by failing to find that the DOC acted in bad faith and denying his motion for PRA penalties. He also argues that the trial court erred by not ruling that the DOC also violated the PRA when it failed to conduct an adequate search for his account statement and balance record (ASB record). The DOC cross appeals the trial court's denial of its CR 26(g) motion for sanctions against Padgett.

We hold that DOC did not act in bad faith. Because the trial court concluded that DOC had violated the PRA by failing to provide Padgett with the fullest assistance on his ASB record request, we need not address whether DOC also violated the PRA by failing to conduct a reasonable search for the ASB record because that issue is moot. Thus, we affirm the trial court's summary judgment order that DOC had violated the PRA and its order denying PRA penalties. We also hold that the trial court did not have a complete record at the time it made its CR 26(g) ruling and remand to the trial court to make a CR 26 violation determination based on its January 12 2018 order.

FACTS

I. Background Facts

A. The Inmate Telephone System

Padgett has been housed at the DOC's Coyote Ridge Corrections Center (CRCC) and the Airway Heights Corrections Center.

The DOC provides telephone services to inmates incarcerated in its facilities which allows the inmates to call their families friends, and other individuals in the community. The DOC contracts with a third party vendor, Global Tel Link Corporation (GTL), to operate the telephone system and maintain the telephone records for inmates housed at DOC's facilities. GTL provides, installs, owns, and maintains the equipment and network associated with the inmate telephone system. If a facility has problems, the DOC contacts GTL who then addresses the issue.

1. Telephone Logs

The GTL system contains the records and information about inmates' telephone calls. Inmates are required to use an individual personal identification number (IPIN) to place telephone calls against a pre-paid telephone balance so that the inmate "can be identified in the event of a security concern or a complaint from the public." Clerk's Papers (CP) at 617. An inmate's IPIN can be changed if lost, stolen, or compromised. The inmates themselves are responsible for the security of their IPINs.

The GTL system has the capability to generate a report of all telephone calls associated with an IPIN, which is referred to as a "phone log." The phone log contains the following information: the inmate's name and DOC number, IPIN, date and time of initiation of the call, duration of the call, telephone number to which the call was placed, the DOC facility from which the call was placed, and the completion code or resolution of the call. When the phone log is printed out by GTL an inmate's IPIN is replaced with their DOC number.

2. Personal Allowed Number List

The GTL system contains the inmates' personal allowed number (PAN) lists. The initial PAN list is populated with telephone numbers of the first twenty-five successfully connected calls placed by the inmate within the first fourteen days an inmate is housed at a DOC facility. Inmates are responsible for establishing their own PAN list, but inmates are not provided printed copies of their PAN list. If an inmate wants to change his PAN list, the inmate dials #57 from the facility telephone to request the change. According to GTL, once an inmate changes his PAN list, that inmate's PAN list is updated or overwritten in the GTL system. Thus, the historical PAN information as to what telephone numbers were previously on an inmate's PAN list are not kept within the GTL system. Accordingly, the DOC through the GTL system, only has access to current PAN lists. Only limited DOC staff have access to the PAN lists.

3. ASB Record

The GTL system also contains financial information related to an inmate's telephone account, which is referred to as account statement and balance or ASB record. The GTL system can generate a report containing the ASB record, including account telephone usage charges, deposits, and withdrawals. The report also includes a telephone account summary that includes the account's balance, total deposits, total withdrawals, previous balance and deposits, total call charges, and ending balance.

Inmates have direct access to their ASB record and can check it at any time through the facility telephone by using their IPIN. Inmates can also check the cost of their last call through telephone prompts while on the facility telephone. Only limited DOC staff can access the ASB record to respond to an inmate's complaint about their telephone account or if there is suspicion that an inmate's IPIN may have been compromised.

B. Prior Litigation and DOC s Change in Policy-Phone Logs

DOC's Public Records Officer Denise Vaughan issued a written guideline in June 2013 to provide direction to DOC staff regarding how to process inmate PRA requests for their phone logs. This guideline states that the phone logs are not public records unless the records were pulled from the GTL system for use in the DOC's business. This guidance was not intended to apply to other GTL records related to the telephone system.

A number of inmates had previously filed lawsuits related to their PRA requests for phone logs, including inmate Jeffrey R. McKee. McKee outlined a plan for use by other inmates to litigate PRA cases for phone logs and collect attorney fees if the DOC did not provide the requested phone logs. McKee was actively involved in litigation over inmate phone logs, and he met Padgett after Padgett transferred to the CRCC in February 2015.

In 2013 and early 2014, the DOC received multiple lawsuits filed by inmates who had spent time at the CRCC when they submitted their PRA requests for phone logs. In 2014, a Franklin County Superior Court judge ruled that an inmate's phone logs were public records. As a result, the DOC changed its practice in February 2015 to direct DOC staff to begin retrieving inmate's phone logs from GTL when requested by inmates in PRA requests.

II. Padgett's PRA Request

A. Initial Request and DOC s Initial Response

Padgett kited^[2] the DOC's Intelligence and Investigation Unit (IIU) staff to ask questions about potential overcharges related to a telephone call. On December 15, 2015, Padgett submitted a PRA request to the DOC's public disclosure unit, which DOC received on December 21. In his request, Padgett asked for three sets of records related to his inmate telephone records: his phone logs, his PAN list, and his ASB record related to his IPIN for the time period November 1, 2014 through January 1, 2016.

DOC Public Records Specialist Mara Rivera was familiar with the GTL telephone system because she previously worked as a GTL site administrator. She had processed other PRA requests for phone logs and understood that the DOC did not have PAN lists or ASB records. When dealing with a previous PRA request, she spoke with Katie Neva, who was then an administrative assistant with the IIU, about the PAN list and ASB record. Neva told her that the DOC did not keep those records. Neva advised Rivera that inmates could check their telephone account balances at any time by calling a number that is provided in the inmates' handbooks, but that the account balances are managed and maintained by GTL. Rivera also spoke with Ashley Zuber, the GTL site administrator at the time, and learned that the DOC could not provide any telephone records maintained by GTL except for the phone logs. Zuber confirmed that an inmate's account balances could be looked up through the GTL system, but that any records would have to be requested directly from GTL.

Based on this information, Rivera acknowledged Padgett's PRA requests in a letter stating that she would provide the phone logs, but that she could not provide the PAN list and ASB record he had requested. Rivera's letter informed Padgett to contact GTL for any other records besides the phone logs. Her letter to Padgett stated as follows:

I have interpreted your request to be for the following records related to your IP IN number, for the time frame of 11/1/2014-1/15/2016:

1. Phone Logs;

2. Pan List; and

3. Account Statement Balance form.

The Public Records Act is for existing identifiable records maintained by the Department. Your time frame includes future records, and therefore, there will be no records responsive for the future portion of your request. Due to this, I will interpret your time frame to be for 11/1/2014-12/21/2015 (date request was received).

The [DOC] does not have telephone account balances, or PAN lists. You can review this information at a Kiosk. Please contact [GTL] for any other records besides phone call logs regarding your offender telephone account. Items #2 and #3 of your request are now closed. Department staff are currently identifying and gathering records, if any, response to item #1 of your request. I will respond further as to the status of your request within 30 business days, on or before February 10. 2016.

CP at 590-91. Rivera closed the PRA request for the PAN list and the ASB record.

On February 9, 2016, Rivera informed Padgett that she had identified 43 pages of responsive records to his PRA request and made them available to...