The Times - Serving Waitsburg, Dayton and the Touchet Valley

DAYTON – Columbia County Commissioners agreed unanimously on Dec. 31 to purchase public records software GovQA to assist Leanne Peters, clerk of the board, with tracking and fulfilling public records requests.

The software costs $1,500 up front and $250 per month after that, she said.

County Prosecutor Rea Culwell encouraged the commissioners to make the purchase because such software helps the county avoid potential risk of lawsuit should the growing number of requests for public records not be fulfilled in the required time limit.

According to Peters, the number of requests for recor...