A man is requesting undercover police videos through Washington state’s open records law. But officials argue they can’t turn them over because the man is a sex offender in prison.

The case involves a clash over rights. The city of Everett argues the right to privacy. And on the other side is the public’s right to access government documents.

State law favors access to records.

“There’s very little information under our public records act that is private,” said attorney Steve DiJulio, who regularly works in open records litigation and is not involved in the case.

Everett says that the Constitution puts privacy first in this case, and that the city could be sued by the baristas if it were required to disclose the requested records.

“It is easy for a local government to simply release documents,” DiJulio said. “The sensitive issue is by releasing those documents -- in likely compliance with the Public Records Act -- is the local government subjecting itself to liability?"