WA State Patrol lost emails, public records and state leaders were not initially informed

The Washington State Patrol lost emails and public records following a data migration failure last year.

In a story first reported by Cascade PBS, the Patrol’s mistakes resulted in the permanent deletion of these documents.

After reviewing internal communications, PBS believed that possibly hundreds of thousands of documents were lost, but Chris Loftis, the patrol’s communications director, clarified in an email to the news outlet that the exact number of unrecoverable emails remains unknown.

“Importantly, we do not foresee impacts on active or past investigations and criminal records as any email would be replicated and recorded separately as part of a case file,” Loftis added. “We see this as a procedural and administrative challenge and not a challenge to our core responsibilities in law enforcement.” The Patrol is said to lack an accurate inventory or method to calculate the total.

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The issue came to light for State Patrol staff in mid-2023. Internal emails revealed that the problem was first noticed when folders for certain lawsuits, which should have contained emails, legal filings, and attachments, were found empty. Missing emails also include those related to audits, policy changes, accreditations, claims, and certain vaccine mandates.

When asked if the agency had informed the governor’s or attorney general’s offices about the missing documents, Loftis confirmed that both offices were notified after PBS began inquiring about the issue. However, he was “not sure what other communications may or may not have transpired” since 2023.

According to The Seattle Times, a spokesperson for Inslee’s office confirmed it didn’t get detailed information about the situation until Aug. 7. The Attorney General’s Office declined to comment because they said ethics rules prevent the office from sharing communication received from clients.

Internal communications within the State Patrol expressed concerns that the records management department would be “hampered in civil legal defense for years to come” due to the missing documents.

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“Not only will we be blind to information we need and surprised in litigation, but we may also need to duplicate huge volumes of work,” one email read.

Loftis stated that the agency continues to “monitor the situation to mitigate potential challenges related to the unrecoverable emails,” but so far, they have not observed any “material impacts” and “are hopeful that trend continues.”

Bill Kaczaraba is a content editor at MyNorthwest. You can read his stories here. Follow Bill on X, formerly known as Twitter, here and email him here.