Washington State Patrol fined $750K for not providing public records in fatal crash

The Washington State Patrol was fined $750,000 for failing to provide information from public disclosure requests.

The ruling came from the Pierce County Superior Court. Judge Bryan Chushcoff issued an order on April 12 that found the State Patrol failed to provide nearly 650 public records requested by the family of a man who was killed in a 2020 crash, according to the Seattle Times .

The victim’s family was trying to determine why troopers dismissed a ticket given to the driver believed to have caused the crash that killed their son.

Court papers said more than 1,700 emails and documents were hidden, and dash camera video was destroyed.

The fine is one of Washington state’s largest public records penalties in recent years, according to the Washington Coalition for Open Government.