Washington State

Office of the Attorney General

Attorney General

Bob Ferguson

AGO 1960 NO. 99 >

The department of highways is required to pay accrued vacation leave to employees whose employment has been terminated but may not pay such leave to those who, at the notice of termination, transferred to another agency or another position within the department without such interruption in their employment as would indicate termination of their contract with the state government.  Such employees are entitled only to credit for such accrued vacation leave.  The department may prescribe rules and regulations covering accrued annual leave for those employees who transferred to another position within the department.

AGO 1962 NO. 101 >

The federal government does not have exclusive criminal jurisdiction over the Titan missile bases in Grant county, nor does it have concurrent jurisdiction, since it has not complied with applicable federal law.  However, the state of Washington, in exercising its jurisdiction, may not act in a manner which will embarrass the federal government in the exercise of the powers and functions incident to the public purpose to which the lands are devoted.

AGLO 1973 NO. 101 >

(1) A board of county commissioners may not appoint one of its members to fill a vacancy in the state House of Representatives.
 
(2) If a county commissioner were to resign for the sole purpose of accepting an appointment to the House of Representatives under a prior agreement to that effect with the board of which he was a member, the member would still be ineligible for the appointment notwithstanding his resignation.

AGO 1962 NO. 102 >

The department of highways does not have the authority to offer a prospective employee, as an inducement for his accepting state employment, to pay the cost of moving his household goods and effects to the vicinity of the place of his employment.

AGLO 1973 NO. 102 >

The Washington Industrial Safety Health Act, chapter 80, Laws of 1973, is applicable to employment in work places operated by the railroad industry.

AGO 1966 NO. 103 >

(1) The state liquor control board as an administrative agency created by the legislature may exercise only such power as is conferred upon it by the legislature.  (Opinion p. 4.) (2) The authority of the liquor control board to adopt administrative rules and regulations which has been expressly granted by the legislature is limited to carrying out the provisions of the liquor act.  (Opinion pp. 5-9.) (3) There are four general guidelines which have been established by the courts (Opinion pp. 8-9) against which the validity of any proposed rule or regulation of an administrative agency should be tested.

AGO 1962 NO. 104 >

(1) Under § 7, chapter 274, Laws of 1961 (RCW 51.24.010), an injured workman who successfully maintains a third party action, the recovery of which is had after June 8, 1961, is entitled to have the state bear a proportionate share of the costs and attorney's fees (after approval of the court) that he has incurred in effecting recovery. (2) Before the department of labor and industries can be called upon to contribute a proportionate share of attorney's fees and costs the workman must file a civil action in a court of law.

AGLO 1973 NO. 104 >

Section 86, chapter 137, Laws of 1973, 1st Ex. Sess., does not require the higher education personnel board to adopt, and the various affected educational institutions to accept, a revised salary schedule for those classified employees who are under its jurisdiction that will fully implement 50% of the salary increase for those employees proposed in the board's July, 1972, salary survey, where the appropriations contained therein are insufficient to enable those institutions to fund such salary increases as would be payable under that schedule; the board is, however, required to adopt a salary schedule which will bring the employees covered as close to the board's determination of prevailing wages as is possible within the appropriations.

AGLO 1973 NO. 106 >

To the extent that the funds appropriated by § 86, chapter 137, Laws of 1973, 1st Ex. Sess., for continuation of the $40 per month salary increase provided by chapter 8, Laws of 1973, for school district classified employees are sufficient for that stated purpose, they are to be distributed on the basis of the amount necessary for each district to continue such increase, independent of the substantive provisions of the school apportionment formula.

AGLO 1974 NO. 106 >

(1) The state building code provided by chapter 96, Laws of 1974, Ex. Sess., is applicable to proposed state building projects not already under construction as of January 1, 1975. (2) The provisions of § 9, chapter 96, Laws of 1974, Ex. Sess., do not subject the state to compliance with local zoning ordinances.