Washington State

Office of the Attorney General

Attorney General

Nick Brown

Pending Attorney General's Opinions

Pending Attorney General's Office Formal Opinion Requests

The Washington Attorney General issues formal published opinions in response to requests by the heads of state agencies, state legislators, and county prosecuting attorneys.  When the Attorney General's Office receives a request for a formal opinion, a summary of that opinion request will be published here. 

(Updated Jan. 16, 2026)

Formal Requests:

Informal Requests:

If you are interested in commenting on any of these requests, you should notify the Attorney General’s Office.

 You may notify the Attorney General’s Office of your intention to comment by:

  • Writing to the Office of the Attorney General, Solicitor General Division, Attention: Alicia O. Young, Deputy Solicitor General, P.O. Box 40100, Olympia, Washington 98504-0100;  or
  • Emailing opinioncomments@atg.wa.gov.

When you notify the office of your intention to comment, you may be provided with:

  • A copy of the opinion request in which you are interested;
  • Information about the Attorney General’s Opinion process;
  • Information on how to submit your comments; and
  • A due date by which your comments must be received to ensure that they are fully considered.

 

Formal Opinion Requests:

Opinion Docket No. 25-10-04: Request by The Honorable Alicia Rule, State Representative, District 42

The Attorney General’s Office seeks public input on the following opinion request. If you are interested in commenting on this request, you should notify the Attorney General’s Office.

 

Questions:

1.    How far back is an employer permitted to go when considering cannabis test results in employment decisions?

2.    Whether employment decisions may be based on past cannabis use?

3.    Whether an employer can evaluate current employees based on historical cannabis use and, if so, how far the lookback period is?

Entire text of original request

Opinion Docket No. 25-10-03, Request by The Honorable Carolyn Eslick, State Representative, District 39, and The Honorable Alicia Rule, State Representative, District 42

The Attorney General’s Office seeks public input on the following opinion request. If you are interested in commenting on this request, you should notify the Attorney General’s Office.

(1)    Does RCW 28A.320.240(2) authorize a school district board of directors to eliminate a whole school library program in a school or district?

(2)    Is a school district with a school library information and technology program required under RCW 28A.32.240(4) and (5) to use teacher-librarians (as defined in subsection (3)) to staff a school library information and technology program?

Entire text of original request

Opinion Docket No. 25-08-03, Request by Robert Sealby, Chelan County Prosecuting Attorney

The Attorney General’s Office seeks public input on the following opinion request. If you are interested in commenting on this request, you should notify the Attorney General’s Office.

1. Does RCW 39.114.020(4) allow for true co-sponsorship of a TIA as it does explicitly permit local governments to enter into interlocal agreements under RCW 39.34 for the administration or other activities related to TIF?

2. Does RCW 39.114.020(4) require that only one jurisdiction be the sole official sponsor and creator of the TIA?

3. Does RCW 39.114.020(4) allow the creation of a multi-jurisdictional TIA with shared primary statutory authority?

Entire text of original request

Opinion Docket No. 25-02-24, Request by Fred Wade, Chair, Washington State Collection Agency Board, Washington State Department of Licensing

The Attorney General’s Office seeks public input on the following opinion request. If you are interested in commenting on this request, you should notify the Attorney General’s Office.

Are the regulations contained in the Collection Agency Act, chapter 19.16 RCW, enforceable against licensees collecting public debts, also known as legal financial obligations (LFOs), under RCW 19.16.500 or RCW 3.02.045?

Entire text of original request

Opinion Docket No. 24-12-02: Request by Richard A. Weyrich, Prosecuting Attorney, Skagit County

The Attorney General’s Office seeks public input on the following opinion request. If you are interested in commenting on this request, you should notify the Attorney General’s Office.

1. Pursuant to RCW Chapter 77.85, by what mechanism and criteria may local and tribal governments within a watershed de-designate a private nonprofit corporation as RCW 77.85.050(l)(a) lead entity for that watershed?

2. In the alternative, under RCW Chapter 77.85, where a private nonprofit corporation currently asserts standing as a RCW 77.85.050(l)(a) lead entity within a watershed, may the county, unified dike/drainage districts and a federally recognized Indian tribe within that watershed form a separate RCW 77.85.050(1)(a) lead entity by which to direct state salmon recovery funding toward strategic governmental objectives, providing a competing list of funding priorities to the state Salmon Funding Recovery Board?

3. By prioritizing, controlling and directing the distribution of state salmon recovery funds in the place of cities and counties, is a nonprofit that has been designed a watershed's RCW 77.85.050(l)(a) lead entity, and therefore its board of directors, "exercising or undertaking to exercise any of the powers or functions of a municipal officer", within the meaning of RCW 42.23.020(2)?

4. To the extent the answer to question #3 is "yes," does the participation of nonprofit representatives on a RCW 77.85.050(1)(a) lead entity nonprofit board of directors in the prioritization, selection and/or arrangement of funding contracts with their own nonprofit employers offend the prohibition on beneficial interest in contracts set forth by RCW Chapter 42.23.30?

Entire text of original request

Opinion Docket No. 24-12-01: Request by Eric Eisinger, Prosecuting Attorney, Benton County 

The Attorney General’s Office seeks public input on the following opinion request. If you are interested in commenting on this request, you should notify the Attorney General’s Office.

Is a proposed first class city charter amendment required to be placed on the ballot for the November 2025 general election, or can it can be placed on either the February or April 2025 special election ballot?

Entire text of original request

Opinion Docket No. 24-09-01: Request by The Honorable Leonard G. Christian, State Representative, District 4

The Attorney General’s Office seeks public input on the following opinion request. If you are interested in commenting on this request, you should notify the Attorney General’s Office.

Do the background check and waiting period requirements of RCW 9.41.092 apply to sales of firearms to individual law enforcement officers who use the firearm within the scope of their employment?

Entire text of original request

Opinion Docket No. 24-02-01: Request by Sara Robbins, Director, Office of Civil Legal aid & Larry Jefferson, Director, Office of Public Defense 

The Attorney General’s Office seeks public input on the following opinion request. If you are interested in commenting on this request, you should notify the Attorney General’s Office.

Does RCW 13.50.010 require court clerks to provide the Office of Public Defense and the Office of Civil Legal Aid access to records in dependency and termination cases, often referred to as “Type 7” cases, without the need to file a notice of appearance?

Entire text of original request

Opinion Docket No. 24-02-03: Request by Joseph Brusic, Prosecuting Attorney, Yakima County

The Attorney General’s Office seeks public input on the following opinion request. If you are interested in commenting on this request, you should notify the Attorney General’s Office.

Are public works and prevailing wage laws applicable to a proposed sprint boat racecourse to be constructed at the Yakima County Fairgrounds by the Central Washington Fair Association (CWFA), a nonprofit, 501(cX3) organization?

Entire text of original request

Opinion Docket No. 23-08-01: Request by The Honorable Monica Stonier, State Representative, District 49

The Attorney General’s Office seeks public input on the following opinion request. If you are interested in commenting on this request, you should notify the Attorney General’s Office by September 15, 2023. 

Is an inclusive and culturally competent education permissible under, as well as consistent with the goals of, state and federal civil rights laws, including Washington’s Equal Education Opportunity Law, Wash. Rev. Code § 28A.642.010; its related prohibition on sex discrimination in public schools, Wash. Rev. Code § 28A.640.010; the education clause of the state constitution, Wash. Const. art. IX, § 1; the Fourteenth Amendment’s Equal Protection Clause, U.S. Const. amend. XIV, § 1; Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, 42 U.S.C. § 2000d; and Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972, 20 U.S.C. § 1681(a)?

Entire text of original request

Informal Opinion Requests:

Opinion Docket No. 25-10-02: Request by Eric Eisinger, Prosecuting Attorney, Benton County

The Attorney General’s Office seeks public input on the following opinion request. If you are interested in commenting on this request, you should notify the Attorney General’s Office.

Questions:

1. Does Washington law permit a multi-county health district to amend its bylaws to require a commissioner from each respective county to approve a regulation for the regulation to pass?

2. Does Washington law entitle a county to repayment of financial contributions made to a multi-county health district if the county later withdraws?

Entire text of original request

 

Opinion Docket No. 25-09-02: Request by The Honorable Liz Wellman, State Senator, District 41

The Attorney General’s Office seeks public input on the following opinion request. If you are interested in commenting on this request, you should notify the Attorney General’s Office.

Does RCW 43.79.195 authorize expenditures from Washington’s workforce education investment account for STEM robotics programs (like FIRST Robotics)?

Entire text of original request

Opinion Docket No. 25-06-02: Request by The Honorable Sharon Shewmake, State Senator, District 42

The Attorney General’s Office seeks public input on the following opinion request. If you are interested in commenting on this request, you should notify the Attorney General’s Office.

Opinion request: Export of "large capacity magazines"

Entire text of original request

Opinion Docket No. 24-07-01: Request by The Honorable Mike Padden, State Senator, District 4

The Attorney General’s Office seeks public input on the following opinion request. If you are interested in commenting on this request, you should notify the Attorney General’s Office.

1. Does RCW 48.30.110 prohibit insurance producers from contributing to candidates for the Office of the Insurance Commissioner?

2. Does RCW 48.30.110 prohibit those employed by an insurer from contributing to candidates for the Office of the Insurance Commissioner?

3. Does RCW 48.30.110 prohibit individual members of a fraternal benefit society from contributing to candidates for the Office of the Insurance Commissioner?

Entire text of original request

Opinion Docket No. 24-03-01: Request by The Honorable Curtis King, State Senator, District 14

The Attorney General’s Office seeks public input on the following opinion request. If you are interested in commenting on this request, you should notify the Attorney General’s Office.

Where a mobile food unit returns to its approved commissary after each day of service as described in an approved plan from one regulatory authority, may another regulatory authority require the mobile food unit to maintain a second commissary kitchen in that second regulatory authority’s jurisdiction?

Entire text of original request

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