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 lender charge for setting up a loan over five hundred dollars after the 1967 setup fee amendment?
Yes, under the law addressed in 1968. The new formula for loans of five hundred dollars or less did not eliminate a lender's existing right to charge a reasonable amount for genuine setup services…
Would a combined Washington city and county have one debt limit and one property tax uniformity area?
Yes. The 1967 Attorney General treated a combined city and county as one municipal corporation for debt limits and as one taxing authority for uniformity. The legislature could also authorize…
Did volunteer firefighter disability benefits bar an injury suit against a Washington fire district in 1967?
No. The Attorney General said eligibility for volunteer firefighter disability benefits did not itself defend a fire district against a tort claim. The firefighter still had to prove the district’s…
Could Washington’s pollution control commission set and enforce water quality standards for interstate waters in 1967?
Yes. The Attorney General said the commission’s authority over waters within Washington included interstate waters, and state law supplied notice, order, and court action powers to enforce its standards.
Who was responsible for Washington community college contracts after the 1967 transfer from school districts?
The new community college districts became primarily responsible for most existing college contracts, while the former school districts remained secondarily liable. The opinion excepted the bond and…
Could a Washington school district pay a three-year property insurance premium in full at purchase in 1967?
Yes. The Attorney General said advance payment was allowed when the district could cancel and recover unearned premium, and the audited premium claim was a just, due, unpaid obligation.
Did Washington's 1967 driving-under-the-influence penalty apply to someone controlling a parked vehicle?
The Attorney General said no for the specific charge of actual physical control of a nonmoving vehicle. The driving penalty in RCW 46.61.515 applied to driving; the general misdemeanor penalty in…
Did a Washington treasurer collect the new one-dollar charge on older delinquent irrigation assessments in 1967?
Yes. The Attorney General said the charge applied when collection occurred after the June 8, 1967 effective date, even if the assessment became delinquent earlier; this was not an ex post facto…
Did Washington school districts remain responsible for community college bonds after the 1967 system change?
Yes. The Attorney General said former college-operating districts had to keep paying earlier general obligation bonds, using tax levies if other funds were unavailable. Prior college debt could be…
Were Washington's 1967 proposed constitutional amendments supposed to appear on that year's November ballot?
No. The Attorney General concluded that the 1967 vote was a municipal election, not the state general election required by the Constitution. The proposals were to go to voters in November 1968.
Could Washington legislators join boards or commissions created during their terms in 1967?
The Attorney General barred current legislators from the new college trusteeship and the newly empowered arts commission, but found the named advisory commissions eligible. He expressly left the…
Could a Washington county finance a public stadium through a private lease and a lodging tax in 1967?
The Attorney General said a class AA county could lease a privately built stadium and pledge the authorized lodging-tax proceeds for rent, subject to conditions. It could use sublease rent but could…
Did Washington justice courts still charge a fee for garnishment writs after the 1967 law change?
Yes. The Attorney General concluded that a party obtaining a garnishment writ in a court operating under the 1961 Justice Court Act still owed the additional one-dollar fee for each process under…
Did Washington's 1967 five-day judgment stay stop garnishment, and were weekends counted?
The Attorney General said the five-day stay barred garnishment; intermediate weekends and holidays were excluded. It also covered justice court judgments after their transcripts were filed in…
Could a Washington city council overturn a firefighters' pension board award in 1967?
No. The Attorney General said the board's pension decision was final against council review. For duty injuries, medical-care duration depended on which paid-firefighter pension chapter applied, and…
How did Washington's 1967 school salary appropriation measure raises for district employees?
The Attorney General said the appropriation covered all district personnel, measured increases against each district's 1966–67 average, and aimed at 7% in 1967–68 and a total 12% over that base in…
Was a Washington county responsible for workers' compensation premiums on contracted work in 1967?
The Attorney General said the county had to collect and remit accident and medical-aid premiums on covered contracted work. An unlawful building permit did not make the county criminally liable,…
Could a Washington water district require its county treasurer to use a specific bank for surplus funds in 1967?
Yes. The Attorney General concluded that commissioners could name the bank or savings and loan in their investment resolution, and the treasurer acting for the district had to follow that direction,…
Did Washington school employees accrue sick leave while on sabbatical, or keep leave after changing districts in 1967?
The 1967 AG said leave did not accrue during a sabbatical unless district rules allowed it. Previously earned leave survived an authorized absence, and could transfer directly to another district;…
Could a Washington municipality still use funds that the county treasurer invested as residual cash in 1967?
Yes. The Attorney General said the treasurer's residual-cash investment did not change municipal fund balances or the municipality's power to spend or direct investment of its money.
Could a new Snohomish County judge receive a salary increase that took effect after the judge's term began?
The Attorney General concluded in 1967 that the new judge could receive the $22,500 annual rate from June 8 because the pay law had been enacted before the term began, even though it took effect afterward.
Could Washington registrars give literacy tests to people registering to vote in 1967?
No. The Attorney General said Washington's discretionary, potentially oral test did not meet federal requirements for written tests given to every applicant, even though the state literacy…
Who had to receive Washington property tax notices in 1967, and could a missed exemption be refunded?
The treasurer had to notify the owner named on the tax roll, even if a lender also received notice. The Attorney General found no refund for 1967 taxes paid without protest after an exemption claim…
Was a Washington water district debt limit based on actual property value or assessed valuation?
The Attorney General concluded in 1967 that the district-specific debt statutes used actual value of taxable property, not the lower assessed valuation measure in the general taxing-district statute.
Did a newly incorporated Washington city have to reimburse the county for its incorporation election?
No. The Attorney General concluded in 1967 that the county bore the election cost because the incorporation vote was a county-run election held before any city existed.
Could a Washington school board member be nominated for a community college trusteeship in 1967?
Yes. The Attorney General said a school director could be nominated and appointed, but once appointed could no longer serve on the school board at the same time.
Did Washington's 1965 retired-owner property tax exemption cover taxes levied under Waitsburg's territorial charter?
Yes. The Attorney General concluded in 1967 that the exemption applied to Waitsburg's property tax despite the city's territorial charter, because the legislature intended relief across all state…
Did Washington prevailing wage law cover off-site fabrication of parts for a public works project?
The Attorney General concluded in 1967 that off-site labor was covered when workers made a part specially for a particular public project. Making standard goods for general sale was outside that…
Could a Washington broker accept a listing from an owner who intended to discriminate?
The Attorney General said in 1967 that a broker could accept it if the listing left the broker free to serve prospective buyers without discrimination. The broker could also ask the owner about…
Did placing a Washington home in a revocable trust end eligibility for the 1965 retired-owner tax exemption?
The Attorney General concluded in 1967 that the described trust did not disqualify an otherwise eligible owner. The trustee held bare legal title while the trustor retained use, expenses, equitable…
Could a third-class Washington city install speed bumps on city streets in 1967?
The Attorney General concluded that a commission-form third-class city needed state highway commission approval for speed bumps on streets designated as state highways. On its other streets and…
Did a retired Washington homeowner with only a life estate qualify for the 1965 property tax exemption?
The Attorney General concluded in 1967 that a life tenant did not qualify. The exemption required ownership in fee or by contract purchase; ten years of Washington residency did not remove that…
Could Washington's budget director approve some civil service salary changes and reject others?
No. The AG said the director could approve or disapprove the personnel board's revised salary schedule as a whole based on fiscal impact, but could not choose individual class salary changes to implement.
Could a Washington sheriff appoint a head jailer outside civil service in a first, second, or third class county?
Generally, no. The AG said a jailer or head jailer was a classified position in those counties, although the sheriff or an already exempt undersheriff or chief deputy could serve in that role as well.
Did annexation cancel a county granted water company franchise in Washington?
No. The AG said the annexation statute's cancellation rule for transportation, garbage, and similar services did not cover a private water company, so annexing its service territory left the earlier…
Could a Washington county require its own motorboat registration before boats used local waters in 1967?
The AG found a federal conflict for boats over ten horsepower on navigable waters and substantial doubt about a separate county registration system for other boats without express state authority.…
Who could restore civil rights to a Washington defendant serving a suspended sentence in 1967?
Only the governor, through the pardoning power, could give a final discharge and restore civil rights while the person remained under a sentence suspended under RCW 9.92.060. The AG said neither the…
Did Social Security and pension payments count toward Washington's retired homeowner tax exemption income limit?
Yes, under the 1967 law. The AG counted Social Security, railroad retirement, public employee retirement benefits, and private pensions toward combined household income, except for an identifiable…
Was fraudulently obtaining hotel accommodations a misdemeanor or gross misdemeanor under overlapping Washington laws?
For conduct violating both statutes, the AG treated it as a gross misdemeanor under the later innkeeper law. It reasoned that the overlapping older misdemeanor provision could not offer a separate,…
Could Washington county officials investigate a death or crime on a Navy base with shared federal and state jurisdiction?
Yes, if the particular base land was under concurrent jurisdiction. The AG said the coroner, sheriff, and prosecutor retained county authority there, but could not exercise it in a way that…
Could Washington create an odd year statewide general election for constitutional amendments and ballot measures?
Yes. In 1967 the AG concluded that the legislature could designate the regular November election in odd numbered years as a statewide general election for ready constitutional amendments,…
Did a Washington defendant appealing a justice court conviction have to pay two superior court fees?
No. The AG said the specific criminal appeal fee provision allowed one fifteen dollar fee if the defendant was convicted, pleaded guilty, or failed to pursue the appeal. It did not require an…
Could a registered out-of-state judgment be executed or garnished immediately in Washington under 1966 law?
The AG said registration alone did not yet make the foreign judgment a Washington judgment. Until it was reduced to a judgment of this state, the creditor could not use a domestic judgment…
When could a Washington school district sign a conditional sale contract without voter approval in 1966?
The AG said the contract price plus existing debt in the class that could be incurred without a vote had to stay within 1.5% of the district’s assessed taxable property value. Voter-approved debt…
When did Washington’s 1966 retired-homeowner tax exemption first apply, and was a missed claim refundable?
After voters approved the enabling amendment, the AG said the exemption first covered taxes levied in 1966 and due in 1967. Under then-existing refund law, a taxpayer who paid without claiming it…
Could a Washington county use road funds for restricted roads inside its fairgrounds in 1966?
No. The AG said roads used mainly by fair association employees and generally closed to public driving were not county roads or public highways for road-fund purposes, so county road money could not…
Could a Washington probationer convicted of a violent crime get a concealed weapon permit in 1966?
The AG said no permit could issue during probation after a guilty plea or verdict for a listed crime of violence. It said eligibility returned only after the person fulfilled probation conditions…
Were a farmer’s fuel truck, fuel trailer, and borrowed weed burner exempt from Washington vehicle licensing?
No. The AG said none of those three described vehicles qualified for the farm tractor or implement exemptions. The farmer-owned truck and trailer transporting fuel and lubricants could instead fall…
Could a Washington court defer sentence and let a convicted driver keep a license subject to mandatory suspension?
No. The AG said the 1965 driver-license statute counted a guilty plea or finding on a traffic charge as a conviction even when sentence was deferred, and required immediate forfeiture of the license…
Did a Washington car dealer need an insurance license when a bank paid it through a better discount rate?
Yes, on the stated arrangement. The AG treated the bank’s more favorable discount on a car sales contract accompanied by a group credit insurance application as compensation for soliciting…
Did Washington’s tax deposit for filing a plat also apply to a replat in 1966?
No. The AG said the deposit requirement in RCW 58.08.040 covered a plat, not a replat filed under chapter 58.12 RCW. It therefore did not decide whether correcting an earlier defective plat would…
Could a Washington county bar its prosecutor’s private law practice by offering a higher salary in 1966?
No. The AG said counties below first class could not ban private practice the Legislature allowed, and a county could not pay its prosecutor more than the statutory salary in exchange for an…
Did a city next to a weed district have to control designated weeds on private land in 1966?
Yes. The AG read the statute to require a contiguous city to control weeds named in the weed district’s formation petition on both private and public property, and said city funds could be used for…
Could Washington school districts charge residents tuition or require textbook purchases in 1966?
The AG said districts could not charge resident elementary or secondary students general or course tuition. Districts could loan free textbooks, and a first-class district had to do so when voters…
Did Washington counties and prosecutors pay secretary of state fees for motorist service and corporate records in 1966?
Yes. The AG said a county plaintiff paid the service fee when suing a nonresident motorist, and a prosecutor generally paid copying or certification fees for corporate documents. It preserved an…
Did a Washington road agency owe a second payment when it franchised utility use of a public-land right of way?
No, on the AG’s assumed facts. After the state highway department or county had paid all legally required compensation for a road right of way over public land, it could grant utility franchises for…
Could a Washington county auditor microfilm older land records and destroy the original recordings under 1966 law?
No. The AG said the 1959 amendment authorized microfilm as a method of recording new instruments, not retroactive rerecording of older recordings for destruction. The older property-title records…
Could a Washington justice court filiation warrant be served in another county under the 1961 court act?
The AG said a statewide warrant could be argued for when issued by a court operating under the 1961 justice court act, because the state Supreme Court had suggested that filiation process might be…
How would Washington’s proposed 1966 retired-homeowner tax exemption be allocated among taxing districts?
The AG said that, if voters approved the enabling amendment, the $50 exemption would be prorated across all state and local real property taxes due on an eligible residence. It would not fall solely…
Could residents of Washington federal reservations establish state voting residence in 1966?
Yes. The AG said a residence within Washington’s geographic boundaries could count for voting even where Congress held exclusive legislative power over the federal reservation. Individual voting…
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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.