Menu Close

PURPOSE

To address the fast-changing landscape of the Internet and the way residents communicate and obtain information online, the Skamania County Sheriff’s Office may use social media tools to reach a broader audience.

The Skamania County Sheriff’s Office has an overriding interest and expectation in deciding what is “spoken” on behalf of our agency on its social media sites. This policy establishes guidelines for the use of social media channels when communicating with the public.

This policy relates only to the formation and management of the Skamania County Sheriff’s Office’s social media accounts. It does not include guidelines for employee use of personal social media accounts during work hours, nor does it include guidelines for employees who wish to make comments about work-related subjects from personal social media accounts. For more information about those issues, please contact the County’s Human Resources Office.

TERMS OF USE

Any user accessing, browsing, and using a Skamania County Sheriff’s Office social media site accepts, without limitation or qualification, the Sheriff’s Office’s Social Media Policies (hereafter referred to as “Policies”). These terms and conditions apply only to the social media sites (defined as third-party hosted online technologies that facilitate social interaction and dialogue, such as, but not limited to, Facebook, Instagram, and Next door) that are managed by the Sheriff’s Office. The Sheriff’s Office maintains the right to modify these Policies without notice. Any modification is effective immediately upon posting the modification on the Social Media Policy page unless otherwise stated. Continued use of a Sheriff’s Office social media site following the posting of any modification signifies acceptance of such modification.

All users of a Skamania County Sheriff’s Office social media site are also subject to the site’s own privacy policy. The Skamania County Sheriff’s office has no control over a site’s privacy policy or their modifications to it. The Skamania County Sheriff’s Office also has no control over content, commercial advertisements, or other postings produced by the social media site that appear on a Sheriff’s Office social media site as part of the site’s environment. The Sheriff’s Office assumes no liability for any inaccuracies these social media sites may contain or for any consequences that may arise from changes to the site’s privacy policies and does not guarantee that the social media sites will be uninterrupted or error-free.

GENERAL

The Skamania County Sheriff’s Office will approach the use of social media tools as consistently as possible.

The Skamania County Sheriff’s Office website (skamaniasheriff.com) will remain the Sheriff’s Office primary and predominant Internet presence.

The best, most appropriate Skamania County Sheriff’s Office uses of social media tools fall generally into two categories:

  • As channels for disseminating time-sensitive information as quickly as possible (example: emergency information).
  • As marketing/promotional channels which increase the County’s ability to broadcast its messages to the widest possible audience.

Wherever possible, content posted to Skamania County Sheriff’s Office social media sites will also be available on the Sheriff’s Office website.

Wherever possible, Skamania County Sheriff’s Office social media sites shall comply with appropriate County policies and standards.

Skamania County Sheriff’s Office social media sites shall also comply with all applicable ethics and elections codes, as well as administrative rules.

Skamania County Sheriff’s Office social media accounts are subject to State of Washington public records laws. Any content maintained in a social media format that is related to Sheriff’s Office business, including a list of subscribers and posted communication, is a public record. Content related to Sheriff’s Office business shall be maintained in compliance with public records laws, and in an accessible format and so that it can be produced in response to a request.

Washington state law and relevant Skamania County records retention schedules apply to social media accounts and content. Unless otherwise addressed in a specific social media standards document, the IT department shall preserve records required to be maintained pursuant to a relevant records retention schedule for the required retention period in a format that preserves the integrity of the original record and is easily accessible.

COMMENTS AND POSTS

Posts and comments made to Skamania County Sheriff’s Office social media accounts containing any of the following forms of content shall not be allowed and may be hidden or removed at the sole discretion of the Skamania County Sheriff’s Office:

  • Comments not topically related to the particular social medium article being commented upon or links which contain any external website or social media site not shared by the County;
  • Comments in support of or opposition to political campaigns or ballot measures;
  • Profane language or content;
  • Content that promotes, fosters, or perpetuates discrimination on the basis of race, creed, color, age, religion, gender, marital status, status with regard to public assistance, national origin, physical or mental disability or sexual orientation;
  • Threats to any person, group, or organization;
  • Sexual content or links to sexual content;
  • Solicitations of commerce;
  • Multiple copies of the same comment, or repetition of substantially similar comments;
  • Conduct or encouragement of illegal activity;
  • Information that may tend to compromise the safety or security of the public or public systems, including content that may pose a security risk to County computer information systems; or
  • Content that violates or appears to infringe upon a legal ownership interest of any other party.

These guidelines must be displayed to users or made available by request. Any content removed based on these guidelines must be retained for a maximum of three years (the statute of limitations under 42 USC 1983 for violation of First Amendment rights), including the time, date, and identity of the poster when available.

The Skamania County Sheriff’s Office reserves the right to hide or remove any content with or without notice to the author. The County also reserves the right to disable commenting functions overall when a full-time Public Information Officer is not employed to monitor content or the number of comments violating policy for a single post are too great, making proper monitoring an impossibility.

LINKS POLICY

Links to other social media sites and external websites provided on Skamania County Sheriff’s Office social media sites: The Sheriff’s Office may include links to other social media sites or websites that offer helpful topic-relevant resources for users. Acceptable sites include websites or social media sites of other public agencies; nonprofit services that extend the goals and mission of the Sheriff’s Office and benefit the community; and partner organizations, where a contractual relationship exists to provide services on the Sheriff’s Office’s behalf. Promotion of private businesses for purely commercial purposes is prohibited on Sheriff’s Office social media sites. Once a user links to another page or site, the Sheriff’s Office’s policies no longer apply, and the visitor becomes subject to the policies of that page or site. The Sheriff’s Office social media sites are intended specifically to share information about Sheriff’s Office news, programs, events, and services, The Sheriff’s Office is not responsible for the content that appears on these outside links and provides these links as a convenience only. Users should be aware that these external pages and sites and the information found on those pages and sites are not controlled by, provided by, or endorsed by the Sheriff’s Office. Links posted by outside individuals are prohibited.

Links by other entities to the Sheriff’s Office social media sites: It is not necessary to get advance permission to link to Sheriff’s Office social media sites. However, entities and individuals linking to Sheriff’s Office social media sites may not capture any of the Sheriff’s Office’s social media sites within frames, present Sheriff’s Office content as their own, represent in any manor that they are speaking for the Sheriff’s Office, or otherwise misrepresent any of the Sheriff’s Office’s social media site content. Furthermore, they shall not misinform users about the origin or ownership of Sheriff’s Office social media site content. Links to Sheriff’s Office social media sites should not in any way suggest that the Sheriff’s Office has any relationship or affiliation with that organization or that the Sheriff’s Office endorses sponsors or recommends the information, products, or services of that site.

COPYRIGHT POLICY

All information and materials generated by the Skamania County Sheriff’s Office and provided on Sheriff’s Office social media sites are the property of the Skamania County Sheriff’s Office. The Sheriff’s Office retains copyright on all text, graphic images, and other content that was produced by the Sheriff’s Office and found on the page.

Copies of information and materials may be printed for personal or non-commercial use, provided that the copyright symbol or other such proprietary notice remains intact on any reproduction of copyrighted materials. Commercial use of text, Sheriff’s Office logos, photographs, and other graphics is prohibited without the express written permission of the Skamania County Sheriff’s Office.

Use of any Skamania County Sheriff’s Office logo is prohibited for any non-governmental purpose. Any person reproducing or redistributing a third-party copyright must adhere to the terms and conditions of the third-party copyright holder.