Washington State

Office of the Attorney General

Attorney General

Bob Ferguson

AGO 1995 NO. 9 >

1.  If a vacancy occurs in a municipal court position established under Chapter 35.20 RCW (cities of over four hundred thousand population), or Chapter 3.50 RCW (all other cities), the vacancy will be filled by appointment for the remainder of the term, with no midterm special election.  2.  If a vacancy occurs in a municipal department of a district court operating pursuant to Chapter 3.46 RCW, the vacancy in the district court position will be filled by appointment by the county legislative authority with subsequent special election for the remainder of the term served (but any such election must occur only in an even-numbered year); the city will subsequently decide which judges on the district court will be designated as municipal department judges.  3.  If a city creates a new municipal court position or a new municipal department position, to take effect during the term prescribed by statute for such positions, the new position will be filled in the same manner as if a vacancy had occurred in an existing position in the same court.  4.  If a city creates a new municipal court position pursuant to Chapter 3.50 of Chapter 35.20 RCW, effective as of the beginning of the next statutory term for such a judgeship, the initial judge will be chosen by election if it is a full-time position or a part-time position covered by RCW 3.50.055; otherwise, the city may elect to make the position elective or appointive.  5.  If a city creates a new municipal department position within a district court pursuant to Chapter 3.46 RCW, and the judge is to serve the municipal department full-time, and the position will take effect with the beginning of the next term for district court judges, the initial judge will be nominated and elected in the manner for district court judges but with only electors of the city voting for the position.  6. If a city creates a new municipal department position within a district court pursuant to Chapter 3.46 RCW, to take effect with the beginning of the next term for district court judges, and the judge is to serve the municipal department part-time, the city may either designate an existing district judge to serve the municipal department, or provide that a new district judge nominated and elected by the judicial district will serve in the new municipal department position.

AGO 1990 NO. 9 >

1.  A registered architect or professional engineer must sign and stamp or seal each individual page containing a building construction drawing, or revision thereto, prepared or reviewed by him or her and submitted or permitted to be submitted in support of an application for a building permit, unless the activities are exempt from the requirement that drawings be signed and stamped or sealed by reason of RCW 18.08.410 or 18.43.130(1)-(7), (9). 2.  In the absence of one of the exemptions in RCW 18.08.410, a person who is not a registered professional architect or professional engineer violates RCW 18.08.310 by preparing a design or construction drawing for a building and submitting that design, or permitting that design or drawing to be submitted, in support of a building application. 3.   Under RCW 18.08.460(1) a local building official may accept a request for a building permit and issue the permit based on a design or construction drawing that does not bear the signature and stamp or seal of a registered architect or registered professional engineer, even if the activities are subject to the requirement that drawings be signed and stamped or sealed.

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.

AGLO 1975 NO. 10 >

Although a city which has established a department of a district justice court under chapter 3.46 RCW is required by RCW 3.46.090 to pay all or a portion of the district judge's salary, such city is not required to pay any portion of the county's terminal leave benefits to the judge upon his retirement.

AGO 2010 NO. 10 >

RCW 36.29.020 allows a county treasurer to allocate the interest and investment returns earned on the investment of a county’s own funds into the county current expense fund, except for county funds as to which the legislature has specifically provided that interest and investment returns are to be dedicated to a specific purpose, or be retained in their original fund.

AGO 1994 NO. 10 >

1.  A county lacks authority to require any agency of the United States to follow county policies or procedures in land use decisions or environmental regulation, except where Congress has specifically directed federal agencies to conform to local law.  2.  A county lacks authority to require any agency of the State of Washington to follow county policies or procedures in land use or environmental regulation, except where state law, expressly or by necessary implication, requires state agencies to conform to county procedural or substantive requirements as to a particular agency decision.

AGLO 1976 NO. 10 >

The deduction from the measure of the business and occupation tax authorized by RCW 82.04.430(1) is applicable to a county which provides data processing services to other counties and cities in the manner discussed in AGLO 1975 No. 97 [[to Robert E. Schillberg, Prosecuting Attorney, Snohomish County on December 22, 1975, an Informal Opinion, AIR-75597]].

AGO 1991 NO. 10 >

RCW 69.50.505(f)(1) provides that forfeited property may be retained for use by a law enforcement agency of the state.  A coroner does not act as a law enforcement agency of the state.  Therefore, a coroner is not entitled to use a motor vehicle forfeited pursuant to RCW 69.50.505(f)(1).