Washington's 1973 Public Records Act guarantees its people the ability to look for, observe, and retrieve records held by municipalities all over the state, including documents, vehicular traffic violations, marriage and divorce licenses, property and lien records, and much more. All pertaining information about the various happenings of law enforcement, local courts, and local government are found in these records, and generally are presumed public unless formally redacted. Both government bodies and offenders can be held responsible because of their conduct as a consequence of these laws, which offer the citizenry with the tools they require to explore issues outside of their governing administration.