County fighting public records lawsuit

DAYTON–A Langley, Wash., man is suing Columbia County for an alleged violation of the Public Records Act (PRA), but he got a different response here than he is accustomed to receiving.

Rather than settle out of court, Columbia County is saying "see you in court."

Eric Hood of 5256 Foxglove Lane, Langley, Wash., filed a complaint against Columbia County on January 10, 2020, alleging that on January 19, 2019, he requested from Auditor Anne Higgins "all records the county got from the [State] auditor and all records of the county's response to the audit or to the audit report," and that Columbia County "at a minimum, breached its duties" in its response to his PRA request. Hood's complaint does not specify a dollar amount for damages.

Public entities usually settle PRA lawsuits, says Columbia County Prosecuting Attorney C. Dale Slack. "In talking with the County Commissioners," Slack said to the Chronicle this week, "Commissioner Chuck Amerein made the statement 'We don't negotiate with terrorists.' This guy is a bully and I cannot sleep at night knowing we're making his business bigger [if the matter were settled out of court]."

Scores of cities, counties, school districts and other municipalities across Washington state have been sued by Hood, according to several news reports in the South Whidbey Record, San Juan Islander and Port Townsend Leader, to name a few. "They ask 'Are we going to spend $20,000 or more on an attorney to fight this, or pay $15,000 to make him go away,'" Slack said.

"The harder it is to pull off his scam," Slack said, "the more he'll think twice about filing the next one. If you can make $18,000 by sending two letters, why would you stop?"

"My primary feeling is I love the Public Records Act," Slack said. "It's necessary. A lot of bad stuff can happen in the dark. The problem is a guy like this is an organ-grinding money scheme and he gives [the PRA] a bad name."

Hood is described in the documentation as "pro se," which indicates he is legally appearing on his own behalf or representing himself. According to a September, 2021, story in the South Whidbey Record and Court of Appeals documents, Hood is also represented by Seattle attorney William Crittenden.

The San Juan County Public Hospital District No. 1 settled with Hood for $15,000, according to the San Juan Islander newspaper. The Port Townsend Leader story indicates Hood sued the Chimacum School District in Jefferson County in December, 2020, and the story reports Hood has "pursued more than a hundred lawsuits against school districts and other government entities in Washington in the last five years by one estimate–and 37 lawsuits in 2020 alone."

Olympia-based attorney Jeffrey S. Myers, who has represented a number of small cities sued by Hood, estimates Hood has received some $820,000 in funds from cases involving the Public Records Act since 2014, the Port Townsend Leader reported.

The latest activity of Hood v. Columbia County is a March 8 denial by the Washington Appeals Court, Division III, to Columbia County's request for records from all of Hood's other lawsuits. "We are arguing that he is not acting in good faith," Slack said, "and he objected. The judge in Franklin County (Samuel Swanberg) said 'yes' to having the records, but he appealed to Division III and those judges determined it wasn't relevant."

The Appeals Court noted that Columbia County is arguing that Hood is "a disingenuous PRA litigator motivated by profit, not by a true desire to obtain records, and this motive is an appropriate factor for trial courts to consider when imposing a per diem penalty.

"We are sympathetic to the County's argument," the judges continued. "But the proper focus for setting penalties is on the agency's conduct or motivation, not the requestor's." Appellate judges pointed out that the 2011 legislature was aware of "the so-called problem if disingenuous PRA litigants" yet did not amend the PRA to make it more difficult for disingenuous PRA litigants to recover penalties, and instead amended the act to restrict incarcerated PRA litigants to recover penalties."

When Columbia County first received notice of the suit, Slack said, four or five other municipalities were also filed against by Hood. Initial talk of pooling resources to fight the allegations went nowhere and the other entities each settled for $15,000 to $20,000, Slack said.

Hood's original complaint and Appeals Court documents showed that on January 20, 2019, Auditor Higgins received an email from Hood stating: "I have heard the county was recently audited by the state auditor. May I have all records the county got from the auditor and all records of the county's response to the audit or the audit report." Higgins, court records indicate, replied to Hood with a public-records request form, and Hood responded with the form the same day, repeating the initial request.

Auditor Higgins responded immediately with attachments of the "recently completed 2017 Accountability and Financial/Federal Audit Reports performed by the Washington State Auditor's Office. The County's responses to the State Auditor are included within these reports."

Hood replied, the same day, January 20, 2019: "I received them, though I haven't had a chance to look at them yet. Thank you for your quick reply. Will you be sending anything else or is that it?"

Higgins replied via email: "This is everything that was reported to us from the State Auditor and our responses are included within. So unless I receive another request from you for something else, this is all I have."

According to court documents, there was no further correspondence with Hood until the complaint received by the Columbia County Auditor on January 10, 2020, nine days shy of a year from Hood's original request.

The case is being heard in Franklin County Superior Court.