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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Did Washington’s new 30-day marriage-license expiration rule void licenses issued before it took effect?
No. The AG said the 1963 expiration rule applied only to licenses issued after the act’s June 13 effective date; licenses issued earlier were unaffected.
Could Washington’s state auditor allow municipalities to use a cash overage and shortage account?
Yes, if the auditor found the proposed “long and short” account met statutory accuracy and true-account requirements. The AG found no legal bar but left the factual accounting assessment to the auditor.
Could county school superintendents elected in 1962 receive a 1963 legislative salary increase before taking office?
No. The AG said Washington’s constitution barred increasing a county officer’s salary after election, even though the increase took effect before the elected superintendents’ terms began.
Could Washington State Parks accept donated park land inside a city and pay to maintain it?
Yes. The AG said the commission’s donation and management authority was not limited by city boundaries, and state park funds could maintain and operate land donated for state park purposes.
Could privately owned parking areas count as public highways under Washington motor-vehicle laws?
The AG said public use, rather than ownership alone, controlled the motor-vehicle-code definition: a place open to general public vehicle travel could qualify. It noted separately that accident…
Could a governor-appointed trustee sign one group health-insurance contract for all Washington state agencies?
No. The AG said the 1963 statute placed the discretionary contracting authority with each agency’s principal supervising official or governing body, which could not redelegate that responsibility to…
Did Washington’s oil and gas conservation law govern continental-shelf lands off the state coast?
The AG said the law applied between Washington’s coastline and its three-mile western boundary, where the state oil and gas committee administered it. Federally owned outer-shelf lands beyond that…
Was a store prize-card promotion a lottery if customers could earn free punches without buying anything?
Yes, on the described facts. The AG said prize and chance were present, and consideration was present because paying purchasers and nonpaying visitors participated in one inseparable promotion. A…
Did Lincoln County have to keep its civil defense and health offices at the county seat?
No. The AG said neither office had a specific county-seat location requirement, and the general statute requiring furnished courthouse space for county officers did not force those offices to be in…
Who paid detention costs after a Washington state-hospital commitment order but before the ambulance arrived?
The AG said the county was not responsible for that interval. After entry of an immediate hospitalization order, detention was incidental to transportation and its cost followed the statute’s…
Did a Washington county treasurer have to report unpaid property taxes to a mortgagee, and could the treasurer charge?
The AG said the treasurer had to search the tax rolls and report unpaid real-property taxes to a requesting mortgagee without a fee. A negligent search could create liability; a signature was not…
Was real estate excise tax due when a Washington general partnership distributed land to partners on dissolution?
Generally no when the distribution simply fulfilled partners’ statutory rights. The AG said tax could arise if an agreement gave a partner more than an existing right or a partner paid more than…
Did a Washington county education board member lose office by moving to another member district?
Yes. The AG said a member who voluntarily moved out of the district from which elected no longer met the continuing residency qualification and immediately created a vacancy on the county board of…
Could Washington waive or reduce ferry fares for students riding school buses on educational trips?
The AG said the Toll Bridge Authority could not give those students free passage under the governing bond resolution. It could consider a reasonable fare classification and reduction with its…
Could Washington justice courts charge jury, witness, and sheriff fees under the 1961 Act?
Yes, in the manner allowed by the cited fee and cost statutes. The AG said those fees were outside the special definition of court costs in the fine-suspension section and could not be suspended…
Was the 1961 Washington justice court filing cost charged once per complaint or once per criminal count?
The AG said the $4 filing cost applied once per criminal action, regardless of the number of counts. In cases where the cost was part of a convicted defendant’s fine or penalty, it was not an extra…
Would Washington’s proposed 1963 Sunday retail sales restrictions violate constitutional protections?
The AG concluded that Senate Bill 175, if enacted, would withstand the religion, due process, and equal protection objections it examined. The opinion assessed a proposed bill, not an enacted…
Could Washington permanent state funds invest in federally guaranteed FHA debentures?
Yes. The AG said FHA debentures unconditionally guaranteed by the United States for principal and interest qualified as national general-obligation bonds for investment under the statute then…
Did Washington school districts have to pay school directors’ association dues, including past-due amounts?
Yes. The AG said districts had to pay dues under an established schedule, and a county auditor had to transfer district funds upon the association executive committee’s written request for unpaid…
Could a Washington third-class city change the pay of its appointed clerk or attorney while they held office?
Yes. The AG concluded that a third-class city could increase or decrease compensation for its appointed clerk and attorney while they served at the mayor's pleasure, despite wording in the compiled…
How were courtroom space, equipment, and capital costs treated when Washington counties allocated justice-court expenses?
The AG said the excluded 'courtroom or other space' cost meant bare space, whether county-owned or rented, not furniture and other facilities. It allowed capital items to be depreciated and…
Could a Washington city petition itself to annex nearby land that the city owned?
No. The AG said a city could not submit a property-owner annexation petition to itself for its own contiguous land under the statute it considered, even though tax-exempt municipal owners could…
Did a Colville tribal member's store on deeded reservation land owe Washington sales and business taxes in 1963?
The AG's 1963 answer depended on the land's status: it said sales, business-and-occupation, and compensating taxes applied if the deeded store land was unrestricted or sold to non-Indians, but not…
Could Washington pledge its permanent common-school fund or its income to repay school construction bonds?
No. The AG said the fund's principal had to remain permanent and its income was restricted to current school use, so neither could serve as the repayment base for the proposed construction bonds.
Could Washington's insurance commissioner require undefined physician language in disability policies to include foot specialists?
Yes. The AG said the commissioner could notify insurers that an undefined 'physicians and surgeons' requirement had to include treatment by licensed chiropodists within their authorized foot-care…
Could Washington require fruit shipped from other states to meet its grades when federal grades were available?
The AG said Washington could impose its grades on incoming fruit if the shipment was not using federal grades. A state grade that directly conflicted with applicable federal grades chosen for…
Did Washington's older garnishment and law-library fees apply in justice courts reorganized under the 1961 act?
No. The AG said neither the older two-dollar garnishment answer fee nor the one-dollar-fifty law-library fee applied to justice courts organized under the 1961 Justice Court Act.
Could a Washington third-class city buy an employee pension plan from a private life insurer?
No. The AG said the city had authority to offer the identified public retirement systems and buy group insurance, but those powers did not authorize a private insurer's pension program.
Could a Washington cooperative become a business corporation by amending its articles or merging into its corporate parent?
No to both. The AG said changing the cooperative's articles into a general corporation would fundamentally change its character, and the general corporation merger statute did not cover cooperatives…
How were two vacant commissioner seats in a Washington second-class utility district filled under the 1962 law?
The AG said both vacancies had to be filled by a special election within forty days. The winners served the unexpired terms, and the county auditor could set a reasonable petition-filing deadline…
Did the 1961 governor salary increase bar Washington legislators from the 1964 governor's race?
The AG said senators elected in 1960 for terms ending in January 1965 were ineligible to run for governor in 1964 because the office's salary rose during their terms. The 1961 House members and…
Were Washington masseurs exempt from physical-therapy licensing rules when giving therapeutic massage?
No blanket exemption existed. The AG said an unlicensed masseur could not perform treatment falling within a licensed healing art merely by calling it massage, though routine massage without a…
Did teaching in another state's public schools interrupt a retired Washington teacher's pension?
Yes, as to the pension portion. The AG said a retired Washington teacher's public-school teaching in another state suspended pension payments beyond the then-allowed forty-five service days per…
Could a lawyers' stipulation about a deadly weapon replace the court or jury finding needed for a mandatory prison term?
No. The AG said a stipulation by defense and prosecution counsel was not the judge's finding or jury's special verdict required by the then-current deadly-weapon procedure, so the parole board could…
Who had to update Washington's county road-cost figures for 1962 fuel-tax distributions?
The AG said the highway commission and legislative joint fact-finding committee had to review all cost factors together every four years, not only road mileage. Their adjusted figures governed the…
Did county commissioners have to hold a hearing before an annexation election requested by a city resolution?
No. Under the 1961 procedure the AG reviewed, once a review board approved a city-initiated annexation resolution, county commissioners had to set the election without a separate public hearing.
How did Washington's 1962 fuel tax apply to gasoline sold for Makah reservation use or for boats?
The AG said selling fuel for use on the Makah reservation did not by itself remove the distributor's fuel-tax liability under the then-current law. For marine use, direct delivery into a vessel's…
Did a military spouse temporarily in Washington need a Washington driver's license if licensed in her home state?
The AG said no Washington license was required for the spouse described in the question, so long as she remained domiciled elsewhere and had a valid driver's license from that state.
Did Washington's 1961 extra pension benefit cover judges who retired before it took effect?
No. The AG said the additional benefit for more than eighteen years of service did not apply to a supreme or superior court judge who retired before the 1961 provision took effect. It did not decide…
Could the Department of Labor and Industries change an occupational classification even when neither class was insolvent?
Yes. The AG read RCW 51.16.100 as allowing the director to change classes or subclasses when their best interest would be served, without requiring an accident-fund shortage or threatened insolvency.
Could Washington lawmakers use uncommitted capitol land-grant revenue to renovate the legislative building?
Yes, for capitol land-grant revenue not already pledged to bonds. The AG said the amended federal grant permitted renovation of a legislative building, while excluding bond proceeds and redemption…
Could the Legislature let cities tax city-supplied water and electricity to support transit, including a tax only on minimum utility charges?
The AG answered both constitutional questions yes: lawmakers could authorize cities that owned transit systems to tax city-supplied water and electricity for transit support, and could allow the tax…
Did Washington’s new state personnel department cover state ferry system employees?
No. The AG read Initiative No. 207’s preservation clause for personnel covered by chapter 47.64 RCW as retaining the ferry labor-relations system rather than placing ferry employees under the state…
Could a nonlawyer represent a party before a Washington state administrative agency?
A nonlawyer could not appear as a party representative in a contested case before a state agency. For other agency proceedings, the answer depended on their procedures and the public interest;…
Could a Washington sheriff personally accept a federal postal reward for helping solve a crime?
The AG said a sheriff could not receive a reward from the U.S. Post Office Department for a matter connected with sheriff duties. The statutory bar did not cover a reward for a matter wholly…
Could a school district sign a city-annexation petition for its tax-exempt land, and could the land be included?
In 1961 the AG said a school board could not sign the owner petition, though its land could be included without counting its assessed value. The AG expressly overruled the no-signature holding in a…
Could King County build a major-league stadium and buy a professional sports franchise under its 1961 powers?
The AG said the county statutes then cited did not authorize King County to construct and operate the proposed major-league stadium or buy a professional baseball or football franchise. It left…
Could Washington lawmakers put the elected school superintendent under the state Board of Education's direction?
No. The AG said Washington's constitution assigned supervision over all matters pertaining to public schools to the elected superintendent. Lawmakers could prescribe specific duties but could not…
Could Wahkiakum County lease and run a ferry from Puget Island to Oregon when it could not buy one?
Yes. The AG concluded that the county's statutory power to construct and maintain an interstate ferry included the lesser powers to lease and operate one connecting Puget Island, Washington, with…
Did the general election-notice statute replace the notice rules for certain city-annexation elections?
No. The AG said RCW 29.27.080 did not supersede the annexation-election notice requirements in RCW 35.12.020 and RCW 35.13.080. Its reasoning focused on the general statute’s listed election types…
Could federal forest-reserve receipts pay routine costs of a county school superintendent’s office?
No. The AG found no express or necessarily implied authority to use those receipts for the superintendent’s salary, stenographer, travel, car repairs, or office equipment; the superintendent’s…
Could Washington admit a foreign stock insurer whose shareholders lacked Washington-style superadded liability?
Yes. The AG said absence of shareholder superadded liability in the foreign insurer’s charter did not itself bar admission to Washington. It expressly overruled the restrictive portion of a 1926 AG…
Was land transferred to a corporation for stock by its sole shareholder a taxable sale, and could the county waive the tax?
Under the then-current real-estate excise tax statute, yes: land exchanged for corporate common stock was a sale for valuable consideration. County commissioners had no authority to waive the tax on…
Did the Highway Department owe vacation-leave pay after layoffs, including employees who moved to another state position?
The department had to pay accrued vacation leave when a reduction in force actually terminated employment. If an employee instead moved without a break to another state agency or department…
Could a funeral director give police a deceased person’s pre-embalming blood sample on request alone?
No. The AG said a police request by itself did not authorize the funeral director to supply a pre-embalming blood sample. It identified consent or request of the next of kin, a coroner’s request in…
Could a city tax an outside seller making deliveries there, and require a city license for the seller’s commercial vehicle?
A city’s business-and-occupation tax depended on whether the seller was actually doing business inside the city; the AG declined a blanket answer based only on deliveries. It said cities could not…
Could Washington use state medical-assistance funds for eligible tribal members living on or off reservations?
Yes. The AG said enrolled tribal members domiciled in Washington could be considered for state medical care whether living on or off a reservation and on taxable or tax-free land. Eligibility still…
When did the 1959 unemployment-benefit disqualification for refusing suitable work begin?
Under the statute as amended in 1959, the disqualification began on the day the claimant refused suitable work without good cause. Requalification required work and sufficient wages in each of five…
Were motel operators’ purchases of furnishings and supplies for lodging subject to Washington retail sales or use tax?
Yes. The AG said purchases for furnishing and servicing motel rooms were taxable because the motel sold lodging services, not the purchased items as tangible personal property. Its answer depended…
Could state employee and teacher retirement funds buy federally insured farm-loan obligations?
Yes. The AG treated the obligations as fully federally guaranteed within the then-current retirement investment statutes. It expressly overruled its contrary 1957 opinion about the same federal…
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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.