Washington State Supreme Court Says DBIA Services Inc Subject To Public Records Act

The Washington State Supreme Court decided last month that DBIA Services, a 501(c)(6) corporation which functions as a financial passthrough, administrative and contractual entity within a network of interlinked 501(c)(3), 501(c)(3) and 501(c)(4) corporations, all run by Downtown Seattle Association CEO Jon Scholes, is subject to the Washington State Public Records Act (PRA). 

The decision is a major win for advocates of public transparency and has already drawn a motion for reconsideration submitted by DBIA Services last week. 

The Supreme Court decision follows a multi-year legal battle which started in December 2021 after downtown resident Steve Horvath first submitted a public records request to the city’s Metropolitan Improvement District (MID). After providing some records, the MID refused to provide compensation records for MID employees, which are not exempt from public records act requests.  Horvath then filed a public records act lawsuit in November 2022 against DBIA Services DBA Metropolitan Improvement District.

Within an Amicus Brief filing, the American Civil Liberties Union asked the Washington State Supreme Court to “find that DBIA Services d/b/a/ the MID is the functional equivalent of a government agency because of its use of public funds to direct law enforcement.”

The Supreme Court agreed, deciding that “DBIA is the functional equivalent of a government agency and thus subject to the Public Records Act.”  

The city of Seattle allows the Seattle Police Department to be used as a contractor for DBIA Services through emphasis patrols in downtown Seattle. 

HardPressed has reached out to DBIA Services, the ACLU, and Horvath’s legal team for comment and will update this report as it is received.