Membership Information

Join WAPRO Now!  |  Who Should Join?  |  Member Benefits  |  Member Types  |  Renewal

Why the Washington Association of Public Records Officers?

A public records officer association just makes sense. There are approximately 2200 local governments and numerous state agencies in Washington State. The Public Records Act mandates that every government have a public records officer. The goal of the Washington Association of Public Records Officers (WAPRO) is to harness the collective knowledge and talent of these public records officers to increase transparency and Public Records Act compliance through standardized education. Conventional wisdom says “many hands make light work” and “an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.”

With 2200 pairs of hands working together, WAPRO will help make light work of PRA compliance. And by participating in WAPRO, a small investment from each local and state agency in WAPRO will help buy a lot of prevention. WAPRO will increase transparency and better PRA compliance by increasing the availability of standardized Public Records Act education. WAPRO will also serve as a forum where Public Records Officers and others who are part of an agency’s PRA compliance program can share ideas, spot trends and share best practices. Finally, WAPRO will help agencies evaluate software solutions such as tracking software and archiving tools that can ultimately make agencies more transparent for less money.

Who Should Join WAPRO?

All public employees who assist with Public Records Act compliance and want more knowledge about the Public Records Act should join. This includes but is not limited to: Public Records Officers, Information Technology staff, Human Resource staff, Legal counsel, risk managers and more.

Member Benefits

Education: In Fall of 2012, WAPRO launched the state’s first ever certification program for Public Records Officers. The first of such certificates were issued in early 2013.

Archives: All WAPRO members have access to past events’ presentation materials.

Best Practices: WAPRO will harness the collective wisdom from all of its members, who will then have access to this information. We expect to start a “wiki” site to enhance access.

Tool Kit: The WAPRO tool kit includes a bank of forms and sample documents, research tools such as the Exemption Compendium, and training tools you can use to train your agency including standardized PowerPoint presentations. New edition published Spring 2018!

Networking: Opportunities throughout the year to meet your counterparts in other government entities and discuss current issues.

Membership Types

Active Member | $25
Active members are Public Records Officers and those performing or engaged in supporting the function of Public Records Officers and whose duties include, but are not limited to the processing, tracking, monitoring and disposing of public records requests, and records management functions. Active Members in good standing have full voting privileges. Memberships are ANNUAL and active from December 1st through November 30th.  If registered after November 1st, the membership will go through November 30th of the next year.

Affiliate Member | $250
Affiliate members are private individuals, non-government employees, and business representatives (such as attorney, corporate representative) that seek to assist in the accomplishments of the objectives of WAPRO. Affiliate Members do not have voting rights. Memberships are ANNUAL and active from December 1st through November 30th. If registered after November 1st, the membership will go through November 30th of the next year.