Washington State

Office of the Attorney General

Attorney General

Bob Ferguson

AGO 1980 NO. 20 >

(1) Under the provisions of chapter 9.73 RCW, the "incoming phone calls" exception in RCW 9.73.090(1)(a) does permit a police agency to record those incoming calls which are not of an "emergency" nature(2) Assuming the foregoing, however, care must be taken in applying the "incoming phone calls" exception in RCW 9.73.090(1)(a) where the call is received by a police agent who has deliberately induced a criminal suspect, not yet arrested or formally charged, to make an incoming call to the police agency; there, wherever the spirit or the letter of the statute dictates taped mutual consent or judicial authorization prior to recording a telephone conversation with a criminal suspect, the "incoming calls" exception could well be held inapplicable even if single party consent is present.(3) The several statutory exceptions to the Privacy Act set forth in RCW 9.73.030(2), RCW 9.73.090(1)(a), RCW 9.73.090(1)(b) and RCW 9.73.090(2) do not overlap each other in such a way as to render any such exception(s) totally duplicative of another and therefore unnecessary and superfluous.

AGO 1989 NO. 20 >

Because of RCW 41.08.040 and RCW 41.12.040, the secretary/chief examiner of a civil service commission created under chapter 41.08 or chapter 41.12 RCW must be either an existing employee of the city or a city resident; these provisions were left undisturbed when the current versions of RCW 41.08.075 and 41.12.075 were enacted.

AGLO 1982 NO. 22 >

Consideration of questions regarding the legal authority of the Washington Criminal Justice Training Commission to adopt certain proposed regulations establishing minimum standards of mental, physical and moral fitness for appointment to various state and local law enforcement positions.

AGO 1992 NO. 24 >

RCW 41.20.050 and .060 provide that a retired police officer will receive a pension equal to 50 percent of the amount of salary at any time attached to the position held at the date of retirement.  If a city creates a new step in its civil service classification and advances all officers at the next lower step to the new step, an officer who retired at that next lower step will receive a pension equal to 50 percent of the salary attached to the new step.

AGO 1991 NO. 27 >

RCW 41.14.260 provides that a city police officer transferring to a county sheriff's office pursuant to RCW 41.14.250 shall have the same rights, benefits and privileges as the officer would have been entitled to if the officer had been a member of the sheriff's office since the beginning of the officer's employment with the city.  Pursuant to this statute, the officer's seniority is determined by the date of the officer's original hire with the city.

AGO 1962 NO. 116 >

A person charged with a criminal violation of the state motor vehicle code before a police court judge who is not also a justice of the peace in a second class city does not have a constitutional right to a trial by jury in that court but said right is insured on appeal to the superior court where a jury de novo trial may be demanded.

AGO 1958 NO. 197 >

A policeman who is incapacitated for any reason, either from sickness or disability, except when the incapacity results from his own dissipation or abuse, or when it results while engaged for compensation in outside work not of a police nature, is eligible for benefits under the police pension act of full salary for a period not exceeding six months when the incapacity necessitates confinement requiring nursing, care or attention, or of half salary when it does not, or where the confinement continues after six months.  The determination is a factual one to be made by the police pension board.