Washington Attorney General Opinions
Free plain-English summaries of attorney general opinions issued in Washington, with full citations and the original source on every page.
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Could a Washington city or county pay a lobbyist or employee to advocate before the legislature?
The AG said it could spend local funds on lobbying only with specific legal authority. A charter city, charter county, or code city could supply that authority through proper local legislation;…
Did a city school district owe a neighboring fire district payment for protecting its school buildings?
The Attorney General said no under the cited 1976 statute. A school building inside a city was outside the fire district’s boundaries even if the city contracted with that district to provide fire service.
Did unused vacation or sick leave payouts count toward Washington public pensions in 1976?
The AG gave different answers by retirement system. It included qualifying payouts for public employees, teachers, and state patrol members, but excluded them for law enforcement and firefighter…
When did a Washington water district commissioner elected in November 1975 take office?
The AG said the new commissioner’s term began at noon on the second Monday in January after the election. It read the later uniform election statute as impliedly superseding the older water-district…
Could a Washington physician own a nursing home and receive profits from referring patients to it in 1975?
The AG said state law did not prohibit a physician from owning a nursing home where the physician cared for patients. It barred financial benefit from goods or services the physician prescribed…
Could Washington elected officials use publicly funded office resources to urge votes on a ballot measure in 1975?
The AG said legislators could use office resources for normal communications about legislative matters, but not for a message whose primary purpose was to persuade votes on a ballot measure. The…
Could Washington municipal employees speak about candidates and work on campaigns despite local restrictions in 1975?
The AG said covered employees could publicly express political opinions and display candidate signs on their own property despite contrary local rules. The state statute also protected the described…
Who enforced Washington’s Uniform Fire Code in unincorporated areas served by a fire district in 1975?
The AG said the district fire chief and department initially had the fire code’s administrative and enforcement duties in the unincorporated area they served. A county could amend the code to…
What happened to Washington public employee bargaining laws after the governor vetoed the new labor commissions in 1975?
The AG said existing agencies would keep administering public employee labor laws because the proposed replacement commission had been vetoed. The earlier school professional-negotiations act also…
Did Washington state law require a deputy sheriff to live in the county served in 1975?
No. The AG reconsidered an older contrary opinion after a 1963 amendment removed county-elector language from the civil-service qualifications; it concluded that state law did not generally require…
Could a Washington county without a home rule charter establish child care services without a specific statute in 1975?
The AG said a properly drafted county child care ordinance had a sufficient constitutional basis, even without a home rule charter. Whether a court would uphold it depended on a recognized…
Could a Washington county force owners to remove existing trees blocking an intersection view without paying them in 1975?
The AG said no. An ordinance could not require uncompensated removal of existing trees, vegetation, or structures for road sight distance; the county could instead acquire the needed land or…
Could a Washington tavern run a sports pool or provide dice for patrons to gamble over meals in 1975?
The AG said those activities amounted to prohibited gambling for a proprietor who knowingly supplied or maintained the pool board, dice, cards, or premises, even without taking a fee or profit.…
When could Washington’s motor vehicle agency release lists of people for commercial use under the 1975 public records law?
The AG read the 1975 law to bar supplying lists of natural persons when the requester intended to contact or personally affect them for a commercial purpose, absent specific legal authority. The…
Could Washington hold a person in juvenile custody after age 18 based only on an earlier delinquency commitment in 1975?
Generally no, the AG said. A delinquency commitment alone did not authorize custody after age 18, but a 1975 law allowed a juvenile court to extend jurisdiction for some people still under 18 when…
Could a Washington county share its federal forest funds with a school district assigned to another county in 1975?
The AG said no. Under the state distribution statute then in force, a county could not give its federal forest funds to a joint school district assigned to another county, even if part of the…
Did a Washington short plat filed after May 31 require a deposit for future property taxes under the 1975 platting law?
The AG concluded that RCW 58.08.040 did not require a tax deposit when a short plat was filed under local rules adopted pursuant to RCW 58.17.060, even if the filing was after May 31.
How were Washington property taxes prorated when the U.S. Postal Service bought taxable land in 1975?
The AG said taxes payable in the acquisition year, and their lien, were allocated only through the period before title passed to the United States. It applied the state-acquisition proration rule by…
Could Washington's governor include water withdrawals in a thermal-power-plant site certification in 1975?
The AG said yes: a governor-approved certification could authorize public-water withdrawals needed to operate the plant in place of a separate state-agency water-use permit under the then-existing…
Did Washington public-works contractors have to provide fringe-benefit plans in kind under the 1975 prevailing-wage law?
The AG said no. A covered employer could meet the prevailing-wage requirement by paying wages that included the prevailing cost of the identified benefit programs, without establishing the programs…
Did a Washington school director lose the seat by moving to another director district within the same school district in 1975?
The AG said yes when the director voluntarily changed both residence and voter registration to another director district. It distinguished a boundary change made by redistricting, which did not…
Could a Washington community-college board require nonunion faculty to pay union fees under a 1975 agency-shop agreement?
The AG said no for the academic employees covered by chapter 28B.52 RCW. It rejected both a dues-equivalent clause and a narrower clause charging nonmembers a share of bargaining costs, while…
Did a bank's sale and leaseback of its premises trigger Washington real-estate excise tax in 1975?
The AG said both the bank's conveyance and the leaseback with an option to repurchase were taxable sales under the then-existing county tax law, despite a federal tax ruling treating the arrangement…
Did a married Washington woman have to use her husband’s residence when registering to vote?
The Attorney General said no. The state equal-rights amendment displaced the old rule assigning a married woman her husband’s domicile; her voting residence was to be determined by the same…
Could Washington require governor and lieutenant governor candidates to run as one ticket by statute?
The AG said no. The state constitution required the named executive officers to be elected separately, and making a governor candidate share a party ticket would add a qualification; the AG said the…
Could a Washington superior court judge raise court staff salaries or take county office space?
The AG said a judge could not override salaries fixed by statute or county authority through an administrative order. Courts could use a judicial mandamus case for arbitrarily inadequate pay or…
What could a new Washington city-county charter change about cities, districts, contracts, taxes, and employees?
The AG said a voter-approved city-county charter could retain or absorb municipalities and redesign most county offices, but several consequences depended on existing law or further legislation. It…
Could Washington’s schools superintendent require districts to adopt their own affirmative-action hiring policies?
The AG said the superintendent could require districts to formulate their own policies, but neither the superintendent nor state education board could impose one statewide hiring policy under…
Did a Washington code city have to seek competitive bids before selling its real estate?
The 1974 AG said no general bidding requirement applied to a code city’s real-property sale. A charter code city still had to follow any applicable bidding restriction in its own charter.
Could a Washington fire protection district abolish a civil-service system it had adopted for paid firefighters?
The AG said no under 1974 law. The district could choose whether to adopt the statutory system, but once it had done so, its board lacked authority to rescind it without further express statutory…
Could a state-permitted surface mine operate on a Washington shoreline despite a conflicting local shoreline program?
The 1974 AG said no under the facts presented. If the mining was shoreline “development” and conflicted with a properly formulated shoreline master program, the state mining permit did not defeat…
Could a veteran use Washington’s public-job exam preference again when applying to a different agency?
In 1974, the AG said a veteran who had already received a first covered public appointment through the preference could not use it again on an entrance exam, even for a different public employer.…
What could a Washington school district pay for when it made interscholastic sports part of its educational program?
The 1974 AG allowed district spending on sanctioned sports, including uniforms, necessary travel meals and lodging, and nominal letters. It required gate receipts to be accounted for and rejected…
Could a Washington municipality give the county treasurer blanket authority to invest all its current and future surplus money?
The AG said no in 1974: the municipality’s governing body needed action concerning specific funds at a specific time. It could delegate investment directions to one of its own officials if its…
Could a Washington public employer make its first union contract’s wage increase effective before the contract was signed?
In 1974, the AG said yes if an earlier interim agreement made clear that wages paid during negotiations were not full compensation. Certification of the union alone did not create that agreement.
Could a Washington hotel or restaurant count tips and meals toward the state minimum wage in 1974?
The AG said no for employees covered by both state and federal law. The hotel or restaurant still had to pay the Washington cash minimum wage, even if federal law would have allowed a lower cash…
Did Washington’s 1974 sleepwear safety law cover children’s sizes 7 through 14 and equivalent adult-labeled sizes?
The AG said yes. It also concluded that the state law could be enforced before the federal standard for those larger sizes took effect, by reading the state law to require the then-existing federal…
Did a Washington candidate's ballot filing fee count as a campaign expenditure?
Yes. The Attorney General concluded that a required candidate filing fee counted as an expenditure under Initiative No. 276 because paying it helped put the candidate on the ballot and furthered the…
Could a Washington state agency let an employee use a state or leased car for personal trips as a job benefit?
In 1974, the AG said authority to fix an employee’s salary did not permit unrestricted personal car use. Broader authority to employ or compensate could support a long-term leased car benefit, but a…
Was Washington real estate excise tax due when a corporation transferred land to shareholders for their stock?
For the partial liquidation and stock-redemption transactions presented in 1974, the AG said yes: surrendered shares supplied valuable consideration. The tax measure was the stock’s market value if…
Could a Washington county pay professional-association dues for its officers?
In 1974, the AG said a county could pay reasonable dues for optional membership when it expected a direct county benefit of commensurate value. It could not pay dues for membership an officer had to…
Could Washington require candidates who could not afford a filing fee to pay it before appearing on the ballot?
In 1974, the AG concluded that Washington could no longer enforce its candidate filing fee against people unable to pay. The secretary of state could require a sworn statement of inability to pay as…
Could a Washington landlord pool tenants' security deposits and keep the interest they earned?
The Attorney General said the landlord could use one deposit account if it kept exact records of each tenant's share. Earned interest belonged to the tenant, though an express rental term could…
Could a Washington landlord face criminal charges for entering a tenant’s home without permission in 1974?
The AG said an unauthorized, knowing entry could expose the landlord to criminal trespass prosecution, and the landlord could not use the statute’s former-tenant possession defense. Burglary was…
Could Washington county commissioners receive a legislative pay raise and increase their own health benefits midterm in 1974?
The AG said commissioners could receive a midterm salary increase set by the state legislature, but could not give themselves a midterm increase in county-paid health benefits. The distinction…
Which leaseholds qualified for Washington’s 1973 property tax exemptions, including leases of Indian trust land?
The AG said a qualifying pre-1970 public-property lease still unrenegotiated when the 1973 act took effect could receive the exemption for taxes payable in 1974, but one renegotiated before that…
Could a Washington city police officer execute a municipal court arrest warrant outside city limits under the 1974 law?
The AG said no. RCW 3.50.180 made a municipal court warrant executable across the state, but did not give a city officer arrest powers beyond the officer’s own territorial jurisdiction.
Which rules governed Washington property tax exemptions on 1973 assessments payable in 1974?
The AG concluded that the 1973 law’s broadened exemption standards applied to those assessments, but its new state administration procedures did not. County officials still handled eligibility for…
Did Washington’s 1973 increase in minimum fire and police pensions also raise the base for annual two percent increases?
Yes. The AG concluded that the new $300 monthly minimum became the minimum base for annual two percent increases for the covered pensions and survivors. The annual increases remained noncompounded…
Could a Washington school district teach adult vocational courses on its own, and when could it charge tuition or award credit?
The AG said a district could include vocational courses in its noncredit, nontuition community education program. To charge tuition or grant credit for adult vocational education outside its regular…
Did Washington police need to give Miranda warnings before questioning a focused suspect who had not been arrested?
The AG said yes under its 1974 reading when officers had probable cause and focused their investigation on that person, or their actions reasonably made the person believe they were under arrest. A…
Could a Washington code city defer a local-improvement assessment for an economically disadvantaged owner?
The AG said yes. A code city could use the first-class-city deferral authority in the cited statute if its local improvement ordinance provided the statutory qualifications and security for payment.
Could Washington police share organized-crime intelligence with a mayor or licensing board in 1974?
The AG concluded that the 1973 disclosure restriction did not bar an officer from sharing specific investigative information with non-law-enforcement public bodies when official duties called for…
Could a Washington school board let outside groups use school facilities for meetings about candidates or ballot measures?
Yes, according to the AG, if the board made facilities available to others on a nondiscriminatory basis under its statutory meeting authority. It treated that use as normal and regular school-board…
Which school policies did Washington boards have to adopt in 1973, and did they have to negotiate teacher-initiated proposals?
The AG said boards had to adopt annual salary schedules for certificated employees, but no specific statute required formal policies on the other listed subjects. Boards did not have to negotiate a…
Could a Washington city council member also serve in the same city’s volunteer fire department under the law in 1973?
The AG said no under the then-applicable common-law incompatible-offices rule. It also said proposed Senate Bill No. 2989, if enacted, would let a council authorize dual service by unanimous resolution.
Could a Washington public utility district annex adjacent land across a county line if no other utility district covered it?
Yes. The AG read the public utility district annexation statute to allow a district to cross the county line into adjacent territory that was outside every other public utility district.
Could a Washington school district use its general operating funds to buy sports uniforms and equipment for athletes, band members, and cheerleaders?
Yes. The AG said a district that had made interscholastic athletics part of its educational program by board resolution could pay for appropriate uniforms and equipment from general maintenance and…
Did Washington’s 1973 insurance discrimination amendments require the same life insurance premiums for men and women of the same age?
The AG said no. It read the new antidiscrimination provisions as leaving room for the then-permitted reduced-age factor used to calculate women’s life insurance premiums.
Could Washington county commissioners change their own and other elected officials’ salaries under the 1973 salary law?
The AG said county legislative bodies in every class could set the covered salaries, but they could not give themselves a midterm raise or reduce an official below the January 1973 floor. It also…
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Attorney general opinions in Washington are written by the Washington Attorney General's office in response to questions from state agencies, legislators, and prosecutors. They are not binding like court decisions, but courts and agencies treat them as persuasive guidance on how state law applies. Every opinion above has a plain-English question and short answer, plus a link to the full original text.