Washington State

Office of the Attorney General

Attorney General

Bob Ferguson

AGO 1991 NO. 1 >

RCW 46.68.200 restricts to the Legislature the authority to designate additional Washington ports of entry for highway transportation of radioactive waste material. RCW 46.48.200 expires when both the Washington Legislature and at least one other eligible state enact an interstate agreement on radioactive materials transportation management. The enactment of the Pacific States Agreement on radioactive Material Transportation Management, codified in RCW 43.146.010, did not cause RCW 46.48.200 to expire.

AGO 2004 NO. 4 >

1.  A county sheriff, as supervisor of the county jail, is required to accept arrestees presented at the jail for booking and housing pending disposition of charges, whether the arrestees are presented by county officers, by state patrol officers, or by other state employees with criminal law enforcement responsibilities.     2.  The county sheriff does not have authority to (1) limit the hours during which the county jail will accept arrestees presented for booking by state officers, or (2) limit the number of arrestees that can be presented during a stated time period.  3.  RCW 43.135.060 does not require the state to reimburse counties for the cost of booking or housing arrestees presented at the county jail by state patrol officers or other state employees, since this practice is neither a “new program” nor an “expansion of an existing program.”

AGLO 1981 NO. 9 >

When requested to do so by the Governor for the purpose of determining the qualifications of a prospective gubernatorial appointee to public office, the Washington State Patrol may (a) provide the Governor with information contained in records then on file with the Patrol, except to the extent that, in a given case, particular information contained in those records is covered by a specific statutory restriction against disclosure; and (b) pursuant to an interlocal cooperation act agreement with the Governor, go beyond its own existing records and, further, search out other information by examining existing records maintained by other law enforcement agencies and/or other custodians and by contacting and interviewing neighbors, past business associates or others deemed likely to have personal knowledge about the prospective appointee.

AGO 1989 NO. 19 >

In order to comply with the auction requirements of RCW 9.41.098, a law enforcement agency must conduct its initial auction of firearms within one year after accumulating ten "forfeited" firearms as defined in the statute, excluding any firearms which the agency is legally entitled to retain for its own use; agencies which have not accumulated ten "forfeited" firearms may use their own discretion in deciding when to conduct an auction.

AGO 1987 NO. 25 >

The Washington State Patrol can exercise powers and duties of the Commission on Equipment set forth in chapters 247 and 311, Laws of 1987.

AGO 1959 NO. 33 >

The chief of the Washington state patrol may establish separate promotional examinations based on reasonable job classifications under the provisions of RCW 43.43.330 requiring appropriate examinations for promotion of commissioned officers of the state patrol, subject to the limitation that there be only one eligible list.

AGLO 1976 NO. 42 >

RCW 82.32.330 does not prohibit the state department of revenue from disclosing to the organized crime intelligence unit of the Washington state patrol, for official purposes under RCW 43.43.854, facts or information contained in a return filed by a taxpayer or disclosed in a departmental investigation or examination of a taxpayer's books and records.

AGO 1951 NO. 110 >

All amounts received as monthly pensions from the Department of Labor & Industries, including increases pursuant to statute, are to be deducted from the State Patrol's disability award, and the most practical and lawful means of recovering overpayments is to deduct a small amount each month from the officer's award until the overpayments are made up.

AGO 1957 NO. 115 >

(1) Officers of the state patrol have the power and duty to enforce state laws having a uniform application to the general public throughout the state, whether within or without the corporate limits of any county or city, but this power does not authorize them to enforce matters exclusively of local concern, including violations of county and city ordinances.(2) Officers of the state patrol may enforce the state motor vehicle code on county roads and in county parks, but are not authorized to enforce county and city ordinances of local origin and nature.

AGO 1955 NO. 220 >

Photographs of traffic violations are admissible in evidence at the trial of the offender and may be publicly displayed for safety education purposes, but for the latter purpose, means of identification of the individual offender should be obliterated and in no case should such pictures be released for publicity purposes while the accused is awaiting trial for the offense.