Washington State

Office of the Attorney General

Attorney General

Bob Ferguson

AGO 1978 NO. 4 >

(1) The provisions of RCW 12.12.030, as amended by §§ 2 of chapters 53 and 248, Laws of 1977, 1st Ex. Sess., are applicable to civil proceedings in district justice courts organized under the justice court act of 1961; however, neither RCW 10.46.190 nor RCW 35.20.090, as respectively amended by §§ 1 and 3 of the foregoing 1977 acts, are applicable to such district justice courts either in connection with criminal or traffic proceedings in such courts. Jury fees in criminal or traffic cases tried in district justice courts are now governed, instead, by the provisions of chapter 96, Laws of 1975-76, 2nd Ex. Sess. (RCW 10.01.160, et seq. ).  (2) The jury fee provided for by RCW 12.12.030, as amended, is to be paid to the county in which the trial occurred and not to be distributed to the jurors.  (3) In civil cases tried before a jury in a district justice court, the only cost item for jury fees which may be imposed is the $25 item provided for in RCW 12.12.030, as amended; however, defendants in criminal or traffic cases tried by a jury in a district court may be charged the actual expenses of providing the jury ‑ but only if (1) the expenses are especially incurred in prosecuting the defendant and (2) the defendant was charged with an offense punishable by imprisonment of six months or less, or a fine of $500 or less, or both.  (4) To the extent that a jury fee is recoverable at all in connection with a criminal trial in a district justice court, that jury fee may be collected from a criminal defendant only after conviction.

AGO 1981 NO. 4 >

RCW 43.63.040 [46.63.040] does not vest a municipal or police court with jurisdiction over a traffic infraction based on an alleged violation of state law‑-as distinguished from one involving a local, municipal ordinance; therefore, such a court does not have exclusive, or even concurrent, jurisdiction over a traffic infraction case which is so based, even in the absence of a contract with the county to have those traffic infractions committed within the city or town adjudicated by a district court.

AGO 1982 NO. 4 >

The proper venue for those violations of the state Motor Vehicle Code which remain criminal offenses under RCW 46.63.020, in those counties governed by the 1961 Justice Court Act, is in the district justice court of the district in which the alleged violation occurred in accordance with RCW 3.66.070.

AGO 1979 NO. 5 >

(1) Where a court, in conjunction with marriage dissolution proceedings, either by way of a temporary order or as a part of the final decree of dissolution itself, awards future payments of maintenance or child support, that order constitutes a judgment to be entered in the county clerk's execution docket pursuant to RCW 4.64.080. (2) Such an order or decree also constitutes a "judgment" which would support a petition for a writ of garnishment pursuant to RCW 7.33.010(1)(c).

AGO 1982 NO. 5 >

The $25 penalty imposed by § 5(3), chapter 19, Laws of 1981, for failure to respond to a notice of traffic infraction is not subject to the assessments imposed by RCW 43.101.210 or § 7(6), chapter 330, Laws of 1981, but it is subject to the traffic education assessment imposed by RCW 46.81.030.

AGO 1972 NO. 6 >

It is not lawful for an "agency" as defined in RCW 74.15.020 to receive and care for a child found by a juvenile court to be delinquent or dependent without being licensed by the department of social and health services in accordance with chapter 172, Laws of 1967 (chapter 74.15 RCW), notwithstanding that the child is placed with such an unlicensed agency pursuant to an order of the court entered under RCW 13.04.095.

AGO 2001 NO. 6 >

1.   A superior court has authority to adopt a rule requiring the county clerk to file papers within specified periods of time.   2.   If a county clerk fails to file papers in court files within the time set forth in superior court rules, the court has several options for sanctions, including a specific order to perform the work or, in appropriate circumstances, an order holding the clerk in contempt; however, the court does not have authority to remove the clerk.

AGO 1974 NO. 7 >

A municipal peace officer may not execute a warrant issued by a municipal court under RCW 3.50.180 outside of the territorial boundaries of the peace officer's municipality.

AGO 1980 NO. 7 >

Although he or she would potentially be subject to criminal sanctions under the provisions of RCW 9.45.040, RCW 19.48.110 and chapter 9A.56 RCW, a customer who orders a meal in a restaurant, receives at least a portion thereof and then leaves without paying is not thereby subject to civil liability under RCW 4.24.230 even if it can be proved that he or she intended to obtain such meal without paying the purchase price therefore.

AGO 1994 NO. 7 >

1.  RCW 43.03.050 and .060, which authorize the Office of Financial Management to prescribe travel and expense reimbursement policies for state agencies, include courts and other agencies in the judicial branch of state government.2.  To the extent it can be justified by varying circumstances, the Office of Financial Management may prescribe different expense reimbursement rates for judicial branch agencies than for other state agencies; however, the mileage rate established under RCW 43.03.060 must be uniform for all employees.