Washington State

Office of the Attorney General

Attorney General

Bob Ferguson

AGO 1973 NO. 4 >

(1) Under the provisions of Initiative No. 276, all records of a school district pertaining to the salaries of its employees and their payroll deductions must be made available for inspection and copying at the request of any person unless disclosure of particular information in such records would violate a right of privacy of the subject employee and this information cannot be deleted from the record without destroying it. (2) The question of whether disclosure of any particular information in a school district's salary or payroll records would violate an employee's right of privacy is to be decided on a case‑by‑case basis in the courts in accordance with procedures set forth in §§ 31, 33 and 34 of Initiative No. 276.

AGLO 1980 NO. 4 >

The provisions of RCW 36.57A.160 constitute the exclusive means by which a public transportation benefit area established pursuant to chapter 36.57A RCW may be dissolved.

AGO 1972 NO. 5 >

(1) RCW 28A.58.420, as amended by § 2, chapter 269, Laws of 1971, 1st Ex. Sess., permits but does not require all school districts to make available to their employees an insurance program which would include medical or health care coverage entitling the beneficiaries to utilize the services of those practitioners who are licensed pursuant to chapters 18.22, 18.25, 18.53, 18.57 and 18.71 RCW.(2) If an insurance contract procured by a school district for its employees under RCW 28A.58.420, as amended, does include medical coverage relating to services which can be rendered by more than one of the above enumerated classes of licensees, the contract must then entitle the beneficiaries to choose between the services of each of those categories of licensees which are authorized to treat the particular covered illness or injury in question.(3) Where the board of directors of a school district is providing medical or health care insurance coverage for its employees under RCW 28A.58.420, as amended, it is not necessary that the contract for insurance or protection allow its beneficiaries to utilize the services of any practitioners in this state licensed pursuant to the enumerated RCW chapters; instead, it is permissible for the insurance contract to afford to those beneficiaries only the services of a designated list of named licensees practicing in a particular geographical area.

AGLO 1974 NO. 5 >

Taxing district which constitute "municipal corporations" under chapter 64, Laws of 1973, 1st Ex. Sess.; determination of the rate of compensation to be paid by a municipal corporation for fire protection services thereunder; consequences of refusal of a municipal corporation to contract with a fire protection district; municipal bids for fire protection services.

AGO 1978 NO. 5 >

A fire protection district does not have the legal authority, under existing statutes, to maintain and provide a paid firefighter who has first aid training, to ride with a privately owned ambulance in order to enable the ambulance operator to comply with RCW 18.73.150.

AGO 1981 NO. 5 >

(1) School districts are not entitled to be reimbursed by the state under the provisions of Initiative No. 62, § 6 (1) for the additional costs resulting from the sick leave cash out provided for by RCW 28A.58.097.(2) The added costs resulting from the aforesaid sick leave cash out program are subject to the "full funding" requirement for basic education (K-12) imposed by Washington Const., Article IX, § 1; however, this does not necessarily mean that the total amount paid by a school district to its eligible employees pursuant to RCW 28A.58.097 will have to be covered by the amount which the legislature is constitutionally required to appropriate for basic education.(3) Because Initiative No. 62 is not a constitutional amendment, it does not have the effect of voiding legislation imposing additional costs on local taxing districts without compliance with § 6(1) thereof; rather, the legal effect of enacting such legislation would be the incurrence of a potential state liability for reimbursement to the extent, and in the manner, thus required.

AGO 1965 NO. 5 >

The voters in a second class school district must authorize the construction of any school but need not approve the financing thereof where the cost is to be paid from funds received under Public Law 815 or chapter 54.36 RCW.

AGO 1983 NO. 5 >

Because of the necessity for a legally sufficient description in connection with an offer to sell, or sale of, real property an offer to sell a portion of a larger tract of land, or the execution of a purchase and sale agreement covering such a tract of land, constitutes a "division" of the land under the definition of a "short subdivision" contained in RCW 58.17.020(6) or (7) so as to render applicable the various provisions of chapter 58.17 RCW relating to short plats and short subdivisions.

AGO 1993 NO. 6 >

1.  Chapter 70.105 RCW requires local governments to adopt hazardous waste plans for the management of moderate-risk waste.  A local government can implement such plans through its board of health. 2.  A local health board can assess a fee against a sewer district for services the board performs in connection with the implementation of a local hazardous waste plan.  However, the fee must be no greater than the actual cost of providing the relevant services. 3.  The authority granted to the Department of Ecology to regulate hazardous waste does not preempt the authority of a local health board to adopt a local hazardous waste plan for the management of moderate-risk waste and to charge a fee in connection with the implementation of the plan.

AGO 1979 NO. 6 >

Certain proposed legislation now pending before the state legislature (see Senate Bill No. 2241 and House Bill No. 502) to require specified immunizations of school age children as a prerequisite for admission to public or private schools would, if enacted as drafted, be constitutionally valid.