A public records request is a written ask, under your state's public records law, for records a government agency holds. Code enforcement case files are public records in every state, you do not have to give a reason, and in Washington the agency must respond within five business days. The skill is in the wording: ask for an electronic export of case records with named fields and a date range, and the city hands you a spreadsheet for a few dollars. Ask for "a list of code violations" and you get a phone call about how they don't keep one.
This is the mechanics post. If you want the list-building side, what to filter and how to mail it, that is how to build a code violation lead list. This one covers the request itself, inside the public records guide for real estate. Washington is the worked example throughout; the pattern holds in every state with different numbers, and it is not legal advice.
Why you will end up filing one
We scoped every code enforcement program in Washington in July 2026, 304 jurisdictions, to decide which ones FlaggedLeads could pull automatically. Five publish an open data feed. Thirty-two expose a portal you can search or scrape. About 267 publish nothing: the case records exist inside SmartGov, EnerGov, or Accela, and the only way out is a request. Roughly 211 cities and 14 county programs, 2.3 million people, sit behind that wall, and they include some of the best distress markets in the state. On Seattle's east side, Kirkland, Redmond, and Kent all run internal systems with no public case search.
That is not unusual. The directory of code enforcement open data by city makes the same point across three states: open access is the minority. For most cities, the records request is not the fallback. It is the door.
FOIA is the wrong word, and the right idea
FOIA is the federal statute, and it covers federal agencies. A city code enforcement office answers to your state's law: the Public Records Act in Washington (RCW 42.56), the Public Records Law in Oregon, the CPRA in California, and so on through fifty variations. The Reporters Committee keeps a state-by-state guide that is the fastest way to find yours. Calling it a "FOIA request" in the subject line does no harm. Citing the federal statute in the body tells the clerk you have not read theirs.
Three rules in Washington's law do most of the work, and most states have an equivalent:
- No reason required. RCW 42.56.080 says agencies "shall not distinguish among persons requesting records," and you cannot be made to state a purpose, with one exception below.
- "Overbroad" is not a denial. The same section: agencies "shall not deny a request for identifiable public records solely on the basis that the request is overbroad." The city can ask you to narrow it. It cannot refuse on that ground.
- The burden is on the agency. Under RCW 42.56.550 the agency has to prove a specific exemption applies, and a person wrongly denied can be awarded up to $100 per day.
The exception: RCW 42.56.070(8) bars agencies from providing "lists of individuals requested for commercial purposes," and it is the one place an agency may ask what you are doing. A list of code cases is a list of properties. A list of the people who were cited, requested for a mail campaign, is a list of individuals. Ask for the first. The bulk owner data post covers the same line on the assessor side.
Who actually gets the request
Not the inspector. The city clerk or public records officer holds the statutory clock, and nearly every city of size runs a portal for it: Seattle's Public Records Request Center commits to the five-day response on its front page, and King County's program runs through an online account or a form emailed to the records office. Search "[city] public records request" and you will land on it.
Emailing the code compliance desk directly sometimes works faster, because the person who runs the export answers you. It also leaves you with no tracking number and no clock. Do both if you like, but file the real request.
What to ask for
Here is the wording I use, built for the fact that every major case-management vendor exports CSV natively, so the city's cost to fulfill it is minutes.
Under RCW 42.56, I request an electronic export of all code enforcement (code compliance) case records opened between January 1, 2024 and the date of this request, including for each case: case number, property address, parcel number, case type or violation category, date opened, current status, and date closed. I request the records as a CSV or Excel export from your case management system rather than printed copies. I am not requesting complainant names, contact information, or any other exempt information; please redact those fields and release the remainder. Please acknowledge within five business days per RCW 42.56.520, and provide a fee estimate before incurring charges above $25.
Every clause is there for a reason.
| Clause | Why it is there |
|---|---|
| "electronic export of case records" | Identifiable records the system already produces. "A list" invites "we don't keep one." |
| Named fields | Pins the export columns; also tells the clerk you know the system has them |
| Date range | Keeps the request narrow enough to fulfill in one pass, and makes the monthly re-file trivial |
| CSV or Excel from the system | Takes paper, and per-page fees, off the table |
| Complainant carve-out | Removes the one exemption a code office reliably has, so it cannot deny the whole thing |
| Five-day acknowledgment | Starts the clock explicitly |
| Fee cap | Prevents a surprise invoice; most exports come in at zero |
If you do not know which fields exist, ask in the same request for "the data dictionary or field list for the case management system" and revise next month.
What it costs
In Washington the default is nearly nothing, and RCW 42.56.120 sets the ceiling for an agency that has not calculated its own actual costs.
| Item | Default charge |
|---|---|
| Inspecting records, locating them, making them available | Free by statute |
| Photocopies | 15 cents per page |
| Scanning paper to electronic | 10 cents per page |
| Electronic files delivered by email or download | 5 cents per four files |
| Data transmitted electronically | 10 cents per gigabyte |
| Flat fee alternative | Up to $2 per request |
An electronic export of case records is a few files and a few megabytes: a couple of dollars at most, and many agencies waive it. Our scoping budget for a monthly CSV request across Washington was $0 to $5 per agency. Agencies can charge more, but only after documenting actual costs, and MRSC's guide to copying charges is where Washington cities go to learn what they may bill. If an estimate comes back in the hundreds, it is almost always paper; reply that you want the electronic export only.
How long it takes
"Respond" and "deliver" are different words, and every statute is written around the first one.
| State | Initial response deadline | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Washington | 5 business days: provide the record, link to it, acknowledge with a reasonable time estimate, or deny | RCW 42.56.520 |
| Oregon | 5 business days to acknowledge or complete the response | ORS 192.324 |
| California | 10 days to determine whether disclosable records exist, extendable by 14 | Gov. Code 7922.535 |
| Idaho | 3 working days for a resident, up to 10 to deliver; up to 35 days for a nonresident | Idaho Code 74-103 |
The Washington response you will usually get on day five is the third option: an acknowledgment with an estimate. For a system export the estimate is typically two to four weeks, and it lands earlier when the request names the fields. Idaho's residency split is worth knowing if you work across the border: the same request takes three days from a resident and five weeks from you. File through someone who lives there.
When they say no
Most denials are not denials. They are the code office answering a question you did not ask.
- "We don't maintain a list." True, and irrelevant. You asked for an export of existing case records. Reply with the sentence from RCW 42.56.080 about overbroad requests and ask which fields the system can export.
- "Complaints are confidential." The complainant's identity can be withheld under RCW 42.56.240(2) where disclosure would endanger someone, which is why the template carves it out up front. The case itself is not confidential. Ask for the redacted export.
- "What do you need it for?" You do not have to say, unless the agency is checking the commercial-list rule. "Property research" is a complete answer, and asking for cases rather than people keeps you on the right side of it.
- A written denial. The agency owes you the specific exemption it is relying on. Washington's model rules describe the process; a denial that cites no exemption is the one to push on, because the burden of proof is theirs and the per-day penalty exists.
Escalation in practice is a polite email to the records officer quoting the statute, not a lawsuit. It works because the clerk knows the law better than the inspector does.
Making it a feed
One export is a snapshot. The signal in code enforcement is recency, so the request has to recur. Re-file the same wording monthly with a rolling date range and the prior reference number, and batch the cities that run the same vendor: one SmartGov export request, copied to twenty-five Washington cities, is one afternoon a month. That is how a records-wall city becomes a lead source, and it is the same pipeline the open-data cities feed into automatically. The filtering happens after, and it is where the list gets good.
Frequently asked questions
How much does a public records request cost?
Usually nothing for an electronic export. Washington's default fees are 15 cents per photocopied page, 10 cents per scanned page, 5 cents per four electronic files, and 10 cents per gigabyte, or a flat $2, and inspection is free. Ask for the export from the case system rather than copies and the bill is a few dollars or waived.
How long does a public records request take?
Washington agencies must respond within five business days, but the response is often an estimate rather than the records. Plan on two to four weeks for a system export. Oregon uses five business days to acknowledge, California ten days to determine, and Idaho three working days for residents and up to 35 days for nonresidents.
Can I find out who reported me to code enforcement?
Often not. Washington exempts a complainant's identity where disclosure would endanger someone, and many states have a similar rule, so the name is typically redacted from the file. The complaint, the inspection, and the case history are still public.
Do I need to give a reason for a public records request?
No. Washington law bars agencies from distinguishing among requesters or requiring a purpose. The one exception is a check on whether you are requesting a list of individuals for a commercial purpose, which is why you ask for case records by property rather than a list of the people cited.
Is a FOIA request the same as a public records request?
FOIA is the federal statute and applies to federal agencies. Cities and counties answer to their state's public records law, which has its own deadlines, fees, and exemptions. The clerk will understand "FOIA request," but cite the state statute in the request itself.
For the cities that do publish, none of this is necessary. Our free map shows the open code cases across seven Puget Sound markets, pulled daily from the feeds, no request and no account needed.