Washington State

Office of the Attorney General

Attorney General

Bob Ferguson

AGO 1979 NO. 8 >

(1) RCW 36.33.065 does not authorize a board of county commissioners to establish a special fund for the payment of only a certain category of claims against a county; i.e., tort claims not covered by insurance; however, RCW 36.33.020, authorizing the creation of one or more county cumulative reserve funds for specified county purposes, does authorize a board of county commissioners to establish such a special county fund for the payment of tort claims not covered by insurance.  (2) Except as provided by RCW 36.29.020, any interest earned through the investment of monies in a county cumulative reserve fund established under RCW 36.33.020, would properly be creditable to the cumulative reserve fund from which the particular investments were made.

AGO 1965 NO. 8 >

(1) The transmittal or blanket method of voucher approval by which the approval of county vouchers by the board of county commissioners is indicated on a transmittal form attached to a group of vouchers rather than on the face of each is permitted under the laws of this state. (2) The county auditors do not have the authority to refuse to accept claims approved under the transmittal voucher approval system unless the particular expenditure authorized by the board of county commissioners is beyond its legal authority or unless the voucher is in some other respect defective in form or substance.

AGO 1993 NO. 8 >

1.  Article 8, sections 5 and 7, and article 12, section 9 of the Washington Constitution prohibit gifts or loans of public money or credit and the acquisition of interests in private stocks or bonds. 2.  RCW 43.84.080(7) authorizes the state treasurer, under certain circumstances, to invest public funds in commercial paper.  RCW 39.59.020 empowers local governments to make investments authorized by law for the state treasurer. 3.  Under article 8, sections 5 and 7, and article 12, section 9 of the Washington Constitution, state and local governments can invest in commercial paper purchased on the secondary market.

AGO 2005 NO. 8 >

The costs of providing medical care to a person arrested on a criminal charge but not yet booked or admitted to the jail fall (1) on the department of social and health services if some payment under RCW 74.09 is available; or (2) on the arrestee personally, to the extent there are resources available; or (3) on whichever unit of government has agreed to assume these costs through an interlocal agreement; or (4) if there is no interlocal agreement, on the unit of government whose law enforcement officers initiated the charges.

AGO 2006 NO. 8 >

1.  A county has the authority to modify a conservation district’s proposed system of assessments but lacks the authority to modify the proposed budget or plan of expenditure.  2.  If a county modifies the conservation district’s proposed system of assessments, the district is bound to follow the system as modified by the county but may propose a different system the following year.  3.  A conservation district may withdraw or modify its proposed budget and system of assessments after they have been submitted to the county, but any re-submittal must occur within the time deadlines and statutory requirements that are applicable.  4.  Conservation district special assessments are statutorily earmarked for use by the district and are not available for use by the county for other purposes (RCW 89.08.400).

AGO 1999 NO. 8 >

When the state constitution authorizes alternative provisions of a new county charter to be submitted to the voters, it refers exclusively to charter provisions drafted and submitted by the freeholders who have prepared the proposed charter; the law does not permit the county commissioners or any other person to submit alternative provisions to be voted on with the original proposal.

AGO 1988 NO. 9 >

1.  !ih*If a city or town police officer arrests a person for a misdemeanor or gross misdemeanor violation of state law within the city or town limits and delivers that person to county authorities for prosecution, the county has no authority to charge the city or town for booking, jailing, or prosecution of the person, unless the city or town has agreed by contract to assume some of those costs.2.  The Court Improvement Act of 1984 (Laws of 1984, Chapter 258) does not require cities and towns to agree to reimburse counties for costs of booking, jailing, or prosecution where the city or town chooses to charge persons for violations of state law, even where the city or town could have chosen to prosecute for parallel violations of city or town ordinance.3.  Where a city or town has repealed a portion of its municipal code, defining a crime or crimes equivalent to offenses listed in RCW 46.63.020, but has not reached agreement with the county for apportionment of costs associated with those offenses, the county may not unilaterally assess costs against the city or town.  The county may bring court action to force the city or town to meet its obligations under the Court Improvement Act of 1984 (Laws of 1984, Chapter 258), and may be entitled in appropriate cases to recoup portions of costs incurred since the effective date of the Act.

AGO 1967 NO. 9 >

The only positions which are outside the classified civil service in the sheriff's office of a first, second or third class county are the positions of sheriff and three principal positions comparable to undersheriff, a chief criminal deputy and a chief civil deputy; accordingly, the sheriff of such a county may not fill the position of jailer or head jailer by appointment outside the classified civil service except to the extent that he may designate himself, or his undersheriff, chief criminal deputy or chief civil deputy as jailer or head jailer.

AGO 1993 NO. 9 >

1.  RCW 46.83.050 provides when a court finds that a person has committed a traffic infraction, the person may be required to attend a traffic school as part of the sentence imposed or as a condition for suspension or deferral of the sentence.  However, the court does not have the authority to defer making a finding that a traffic infraction has been committed and then order the person to attend traffic school as a condition of dismissing the charge. 2.  RCW 46.63.151 provides no costs may be awarded to either party in a traffic infraction case, except for certain costs related to failure to provide proof of financial responsibility pursuant to RCW 46.30.020(2).  A court cannot require the payment of costs as a condition of dismissing a traffic infraction charge. 3.  If a court enters a finding that a person has committed a traffic infraction, RCW 46.20.270(2) requires the court to forward an abstract of that finding to the Department of Licensing.  RCW 46.52.120(1) requires the Department to keep this record, and RCW 46.52.130 authorizes the Department to furnish this record to certain insurance carriers.  If the court does not enter a finding that a traffic infraction has been committed, there is no requirement to furnish any information to the Department.

AGO 1980 NO. 9 >

A county, including a county which has adopted a "home rule" charter under Article XI, § 4 (Amendment 21) of the Washington Constitution, does not have the authority, in the absence of some form of statutory authorization by the state legislature, to impose a county-wide business and occupation tax.