Court Finds County Failed to Adequately Search for Records; Criticizes Auditor Officials’ Testimony

A Thurston County Superior Court judge has ruled that Grays Harbor County violated Washington’s Public Records Act by failing to adequately search for and produce public records requested by Ocean Shores residents Kerin and Frank Elduen, while issuing unusually strong criticism of the credibility of testimony provided by County Auditor Joseph MacLean and Deputy Auditor Scott Turnbull.

In a seven-page Findings of Fact, Conclusions of Law and Order on Public Records Act Violations signed July 2 by Judge Christine Schaller, the court found the county liable for multiple violations of Chapter 42.56 RCW and determined that the Elduens are the prevailing parties in the lawsuit.

The ruling stems from a series of public records requests related to the 2023 Ocean Shores mayoral election and the Grays Harbor County Auditor’s Office’s handling of ballot ordering records and communications.

Court Finds Multiple Public Records Act Violations

Judge Schaller concluded that the county violated the Public Records Act in two significant areas.

First, the court found the Auditor’s Office failed to conduct an adequate search and failed to timely disclose a signed 2023 candidate lot draw order record requested by the plaintiffs.

According to the ruling, the record was requested on April 15, 2024, but was not produced until October 16, 2024 — 184 days later — after a separate public records request.

The court found the document existed, was responsive to the original request, and should have been located and disclosed much earlier.

Second, the judge ruled the county failed to properly search for, preserve, and produce text message records and related communications involving Auditor Joseph MacLean and Deputy Auditor Scott Turnbull.

The ruling states that although MacLean later forwarded text messages exchanged with Turnbull in an email, the actual text message records requested by the plaintiffs were never produced.

Judge Schaller further found that text messages created or received by public employees while conducting public business are public records regardless of whether they are stored on personal or government-issued devices.

Strong Credibility Findings

Perhaps the most striking portion of the ruling involves the court’s assessment of the testimony provided by MacLean and Turnbull.

The judge wrote that the court “expressly finds” both men’s testimony and declarations were not credible.

According to the findings, the court rejected their explanations regarding:

• The handling of the 2023 candidate lot draw document.

• Why the document was not discovered during earlier records searches.

• The failure to search for, preserve, and produce responsive public records.

The order states the explanations “appear to be fabricated to cover a huge error” by the Grays Harbor County Auditor’s Office and concludes that the testimony calls into question all information the two officials provided during the merits hearing.

The court also found that the disappearance or destruction of requested text message records had not been satisfactorily explained by the county or its witnesses.

Additional Findings

The court determined that:

• Two earlier public records requests were barred by the statute of limitations.

• Certain requests seeking “emails” did not require the county to search Microsoft Teams messages because the requests were framed specifically for email records.

• The adequacy of a public records search is measured by reasonableness and cannot be limited to a single repository when other likely sources exist.

Penalty Hearing Scheduled

While the court determined liability, it has not yet decided the amount Grays Harbor County will be required to pay.

A penalty hearing was scheduled for 9 a.m. on July 24, 2026, before Judge Christine Schaller.

At that hearing, the court determined:

• The appropriate statutory penalties for each Public Records Act violation.

• The duration of each withholding period.

• The number of records affected.

• Applicable aggravating and mitigating factors.

• Attorney fees, litigation costs, and expenses owed to the plaintiffs.

Under Washington’s Public Records Act, prevailing plaintiffs are entitled to recover reasonable attorney fees and costs, in addition to statutory penalties that are determined by the court.

The amount of those penalties will be published as more details are released.