This bill requires the Division of Archives and Records Management, working with the University of Washington Institute on Human Development and Disability, the Department of Social and Health Services, and the Department of Archaeology and Historic Preservation, to create a preservation plan for historical documents and artifacts identified at Lakeland Village, a state-operated facility. The plan must identify and catalog records and artifacts (including records of past residents with intellectual or developmental disabilities), assess condition and preservation needs, specify storage, handling, transport, restoration, digitization, microfilm transfer, a timeline, and a budget, and include future public access plans. The plan must be reported to the appropriate legislative committees by September 1, 2025; no records shall be destroyed before fiscal year 2030; and indirect costs charged by the University of Washington for the project are capped at 15 percent. The bill also amends RCW 40.14.030 to require transfer of public records not needed for current operations and records of agencies that may be abolished to the state archives for centralization and permanent preservation, subject to existing exceptions for approved destruction. When records are transferred, certified copies made by the archivist have the same legal effect as certification by the original officer, reproduction fees may be charged, and the original officer retains rights of access without charge. Records that are confidential, privileged, or otherwise exempt under state or federal law remain so after transfer unless the archivist, with concurrence of the originating jurisdiction and under rules adopted by the secretary of state, determines they should be made accessible; any restricted record in the archives becomes open to inspection and copying 75 years after its creation. This is a procedural statutory change amending existing law and an uncodified 2024 provision to add preservation and archival transfer requirements, limit certain costs, and set timing and reporting obligations. Affected entities include the Division of Archives and Records Management, the University of Washington Institute on Human Development and Disability, DSHS, the Department of Archaeology and Historic Preservation, the state archives/archivist, and the secretary of state. The text does not specify which legislative committees are the “appropriate committees,” the detailed rules the secretary of state will adopt, the precise administrative placement or definition of “state archives,” or the exact meaning of “fiscal year 2030.”

If enacted, the state will be required to inventory, stabilize, catalogue, and plan long‑term storage and public access for historical documents and artifacts from Lakeland Village, with the Division of Archives and Records Management leading the work alongside DSHS, the University of Washington Institute on Human Development and Disability, and the Department of Archaeology and Historic Preservation. Those agencies will need to develop and report a timeline and a budget to the legislature by September 1, 2025, carry out or fund conservation, digitization, microfilming, handling and transport steps, and keep all records from being destroyed until fiscal year 2030; the University’s indirect cost recovery for the project is limited to 15 percent, which reduces its overhead reimbursement and likely shifts some costs or management burdens onto the state agencies doing the work. The state archives will centralize transferred records, and certified copies made by the archivist will be treated as official; confidentiality, privilege, and exemptions stay in place after transfer but restricted records become open after 75 years. Practically, DSHS and the archives will see increased responsibilities and likely short‑term costs for storage, conservation, and access planning, originating agencies retain access rights without charge, and some implementation details remain unclear here (which legislative committees receive the report, the exact meaning of “fiscal year 2030,” and rules the secretary of state may adopt about making records accessible).