Today, State Auditor Troy Kelley was indicted by a federal grand jury on numerous criminal charges.

In his public statement released in the wake of his indictment, Auditor Kelley spoke of the distraction his continued service will cause his agency.  I agree.

I am cognizant that the charges contained in an indictment are only allegations.  A person is presumed innocent unless or until he or she is proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

This, however, is a matter of public confidence in the institutions and leaders of state government.

SHELTON — A Mason County judge today sentenced a Tahuya man who tried to fill and alter the course of the Tahuya River to 30 days in jail on each count, to be served concurrently, $8,143 in fines, two years of probation and an order to follow civil and criminal environmental laws.

OLYMPIA — The Washington House of Representatives yesterday passed Attorney General Bob Ferguson’s Patent Troll Prevention Act, a bill to protect Washington small businesses from predatory and bad faith patent infringement claims and demands, in an overwhelming 94-3 vote.

This release is compliments of the Washington State Department of Labor & Industries

TUMWATER — A former drywall contractor in Walla Walla must pay more than $1 million in delinquent workers’ compensation premiums and penalties.

The Washington State Board of Industrial Insurance Appeals recently held Shawn A. Campbell and his spouse personally liable for unpaid premiums, interest and late penalties racked up by his company, E & E Acoustics, LLC.

OLYMPIA — Today the House Public Safety Committee heard public testimony on a measure sponsored by Sen. Mike Padden that would make a fourth DUI conviction within 10 years a felony.

“This bill is really about going after those repeat offenders who are putting the public at risk and even taking lives,” said Padden, who chairs the Senate Law and Justice Committee. “This change would help deter some people from driving drunk, and take those who refuse to change their behavior off our roads.”

OLYMPIA — Attorney General Bob Ferguson’s proposal to close a loophole in the Sexually Violent Predator statute to prevent the release of offenders who have not been rehabilitated, passed the state Senate yesterday, 46 to 0.

The bill will address shortcomings in the current law by: (1) making any report or testimony offered by an expert on an offender’s behalf inadmissible unless the offender has participated in the state’s most recent annual review; and (2) defining treatment as the sex-offender specific treatment program at the Special Commitment Center.

OLYMPIA — Today, Washington Attorney General Bob Ferguson’s legislation strengthening the state’s data breach notification law passed the state Senate, 47 to 0.

It passed the House of Representatives March 4, 97 to 0. The bill now heads to Governor Jay Inslee for his signature.

SEATTLE — Attorney General Bob Ferguson today urged the U.S. Department of Education to immediately relieve the debt burden of thousands of students who attended Corinthian Colleges, joining with several other state attorneys general.

UPDATE: