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 a pardon or final discharge automatically restore handgun rights after a violent or drug-related conviction in Washington?
The Attorney General concluded in 1993 that a pardon or final discharge restoring civil rights did not, by itself, restore handgun possession rights for the convictions at issue. Washington’s…
Could a Washington district court hold a traffic ticket open, require traffic school, then dismiss it without an infraction finding?
The Attorney General concluded in 1993 that a court could order traffic school after finding an infraction, including with a deferred or suspended sentence, but could not require school as a…
Could Washington state and local treasurers invest public funds in commercial paper bought on the secondary market?
The Attorney General concluded in 1993 that state, county, and municipal treasurers could invest eligible funds in commercial paper purchased on the secondary market, subject to statutory investment…
Did Washington’s former 106 percent property-tax levy limit apply to a voter-approved emergency medical services levy?
The Attorney General concluded in 1993 that the six-year emergency medical services levy was exempt from the 106 percent limit in its first year but subject to that limit in later years.
Could a Washington local health board charge a sewer district for services under a hazardous-waste plan?
The Attorney General concluded in 1993 that a local health board could implement a moderate-risk-waste plan and charge a sewer district for related services, but the fee could not exceed the actual…
Could Washington cities or counties require local pesticide licenses in addition to state licenses?
The Attorney General concluded in 1993 that state law preempted local licensing of pesticide application and use, with a specific exception for structural pest control in qualifying large cities and…
Could a charter city appoint its finance director to the firefighters’ pension board after abolishing the comptroller’s office?
The Attorney General concluded in 1993 that a first-class charter city could give the comptroller’s pension-board seat to its finance director when that director inherited the comptroller’s…
When did an out-of-state political group have to report contributions to Washington campaigns?
The Attorney General concluded in 1993 that reporting applied to out-of-state groups that qualified as political committees and had sufficient contacts with Washington. A nonreporting committee that…
Could Washington apply its salmon landing limits to fish caught in Canada and set different lingcod limits for anglers and spearfishers?
The Attorney General concluded in 1993 that Washington could apply its salmon landing and possession limits to fish caught in Canadian waters but landed at a Washington port. The Fisheries…
Could a Washington school district grant family-care leave beyond the twelve-day annual leave limit?
The Attorney General answered yes, with a condition: a district could grant separate family-care leave beyond the limit if its policy defined the limited illness, injury, and emergency leave as…
Could a Washington public library charge residents to use ordinary library services?
Generally no, under the 1992 statutes the AG analyzed. It recognized specific statutory exceptions, and said libraries could charge nonresidents and could charge for convenience services that were…
Could a Washington doctor refer a patient to an infusion company the doctor owned, or receive a fixed service fee from it?
The AG said referral to a physician-owned infusion company was barred under the anti-kickback statute unless the people furnishing services were effectively the physician’s employees. A fixed fee…
Did interest earned by Washington natural resources funds have to go into the state general fund?
The AG gave different answers by fund: Park Land Trust interest stayed with the trust; School Construction Revolving Fund interest generally stayed, with a narrow general-fund appropriation…
Did a Washington city spanning two counties have to plan citywide when only one county followed the Growth Management Act?
Yes. The AG said a city partly inside a county planning under the Act had to adopt the required plan and development regulations for its entire territory, including its portion in a nonplanning county.
Did a Washington locomotive engineer have to both ring the bell and blow the whistle at a railroad crossing?
No. The AG read the 1992 criminal statute to allow either warning at covered crossings. It also cautioned that meeting that statutory minimum did not necessarily eliminate civil liability after an…
Did Washington’s LEOFF system have to credit member contributions with every dollar its investments earned?
No. The AG said the director could set credited interest based on the fund’s net annual earnings, but the statute did not require the credited rate to equal actual net investment earnings.
Could a Washington city bar an adult family home because another care facility was nearby?
Under the law analyzed in 1992, no: the AG said adult family homes were permitted in residential and commercial zones, so a spacing ban for them was preempted. State licensing alone did not…
Did a retired Washington police officer’s pension rise when the city moved current officers into a new higher pay step?
For the older city police pension plan analyzed, yes: when the city added a higher step and advanced every current officer from the retiree’s former step, the AG treated the new step’s salary as…
Could a Washington property owner win a growth-planning appeal just because a plan lowered the property’s value?
No. The AG said the planning hearings boards could review whether officials considered private property rights, but a negative effect on one parcel alone did not support relief under the Growth…
Did a Washington city council have to approve a voter-petitioned charter amendment before it could go on the ballot?
No. The AG said a qualifying petition in a charter city or charter code city went to the next applicable regular election without a council resolution directing the county auditor to place it there.
Could Washington utility district commissioners give themselves life insurance and decide it at a sparsely attended meeting?
The AG said matching employee group coverage could be provided, but commissioners who set their own pay could not receive a midterm increase; coverage had to await their next terms. A manager’s…
Could a Washington county deny nonforestry permits after a landowner had said no timberland conversion was planned?
The AG said a local government could deny nonforestry permit applications for six years after that forest practices application, including applications by a later owner. If it chose not to deny…
Could an owner vote in a small Washington irrigation district if the land was assessable but not currently assessed?
Yes, if the owner met the other voter qualifications. The AG read “assessable” to include land capable of district assessment for any purpose, even when no irrigation assessment was then charged.
Could a Washington port charge a nearby business for airport benefits or take a percentage of an airport user’s sales?
No on both questions. The AG said airport use charges reached actual users, not businesses merely located nearby, and a fee calculated as a percentage of gross receipts failed the statutory…
Who decided whether a Washington building permit had an adequate drinking-water supply?
The AG assigned that decision to the local building permit agency. For a public water system it had to apply Board of Health standards; for other sources it had more discretion but still needed…
Was a Washington first-class city ordinance void because the city missed a charter publication deadline?
The AG said missing a stated number of days did not invalidate the ordinance under state law. Whether the city charter itself affected validity depended on interpretation of that local charter,…
What happened to a district judge when a Washington city ended its municipal department and formed a municipal court?
The AG said the city and county first had to settle the relevant criminal-case costs, then the city could give notice to terminate the district court’s municipal department through the districting…
Could a Washington county equalization board change a property assessment outside its revaluation year?
Yes. The AG said the board could review property on its own motion even without a current-year revaluation, but had to compare it with fair market value in the assessor’s revaluation year. It…
Who set a part-time Washington district judge’s pay, and could a nonlawyer judge run again?
The AG said the county defined how much of a full-time position the judgeship represented, while the state salary commission’s schedule determined pay. It also said an eligible nonattorney incumbent…
After redistricting, which district voted to fill the remaining term of a vacant Washington Senate seat?
The AG concluded that the special election for the remaining term used the newly redrawn district. Candidates had to reside in that new district, although the opinion distinguished the earlier…
Could a Washington water district award a small works contract to one of its commissioners or part-time employees?
In 1992, the AG said a commissioner could not receive a district contract when the district’s liability exceeded $750 in a calendar month, even if listed on the roster. A part-time employee under…
Could Washington’s State Board of Education ban corporal punishment in public schools under its rulemaking powers?
The Attorney General concluded in 1992 that the two cited rulemaking statutes did not authorize a statewide ban. The board could adopt safeguards to ensure corporal punishment was reasonable and…
Who owned substitute-care citizen review board records, who could see them, and did the board have to transcribe reviews?
The Attorney General concluded in 1992 that each board owned its records, generally had to retain them for six years, and could disclose them only as juvenile-records statutes authorized. A verbatim…
Did a Washington freight-only launch boat need a passenger-service certificate to carry cargo to anchored ships?
The Attorney General concluded in 1992 that a freight-only launch did not need the certificate required for certain passenger service. It remained a regulated common carrier, including duties such…
Could a Washington coroner issue a presumptive death certificate based only on a suicide note and a missing body?
The Attorney General concluded in 1992 that a suicide note and missing body alone did not satisfy the statute, which required evidence of death from an accident or natural disaster. Other evidence…
Could a Washington city or county ban rent increases used to force a residential tenant to leave?
The Attorney General concluded in 1992 that state rent-control preemption barred the proposed local ordinance. It would regulate rent by limiting a landlord’s ability to raise it when the increase…
If someone lawfully brought a live elk into Washington, did the state own it, and could wildlife officials regulate it?
The Attorney General concluded in 1992 that a lawfully acquired and imported elk remained the individual’s property, including captive offspring, but ownership remained subject to state wildlife…
Was land granted to Washington Territory for an asylum subject to the state constitutional trust for later state land grants?
The Attorney General concluded in 1992 that the particular 1874 territorial grant was outside the constitutional trust tied to the statehood Enabling Act. Federal conditions still restricted its use…
Could a Washington collection agency send the statutory bounced-check notice even though it mentioned possible criminal charges?
The Attorney General concluded in 1992 that a licensed collection agency could use the statutory notice of dishonor, including its caution that law enforcement might receive a copy. The general ban…
Could a Washington county control noxious weeds without activating its county weed-control board?
The Attorney General concluded in 1992 that a county could use its own staff without activating the board only under a narrow statutory alternative after the Agriculture Director ordered activation…
Could a Washington school district buy nearby land to remove a possible student health hazard?
The 1991 AG said a district had authority to buy land for that purpose if it determined the risk and purchase were warranted. It could not pay more than appraised value for title alone, but could…
Could Washington’s Optometry Board define a contact lens prescription and set prescribing standards?
Yes, if its rules promoted public safety and carried out the optometry law’s purposes. The 1991 AG said the Board could define contact lens prescriptions and set standards for optometrists’…
Could Washington’s judicial conduct commission rotate substitutes from a pool of alternates?
No. The 1991 AG read the appointment statute to require one alternate paired with each commission member, rather than a rotating pool.
Did a Washington city’s dry liquor vote extend automatically to a wet area it later annexed?
No. The 1991 AG said Fircrest’s class H liquor restriction remained limited to the city boundaries at the time of its local-option vote. A business in the later-annexed area could continue to have…
What notice, fees, sale price, and redemption rules applied to Washington irrigation district foreclosures in 1991?
The 1991 AG declined to decide whether notice was adequate in a particular foreclosure. It said irrigation districts could not add attorney fees to the specified delinquency or redemption amounts,…
Could Pierce County use donated employee leave for a sick leave bank without making a prohibited gift?
The 1991 AG said the proposed bank was not a county gift of public funds. Donated leave was not pensionable compensation for the donor or the recipient under the retirement statute the opinion analyzed.
Could a Washington boundary review board review a city water extension that followed an approved regional water plan?
The 1991 AG said no. When a city extended water service beyond its limits consistently with an approved coordinated water system plan, the local boundary review board had no authority to review that…
When a city contracted with a Washington sheriff and an officer transferred, did seniority start at the city hire date or county transfer date?
For a qualifying transfer under the statute, the AG said seniority in the county civil service system dated from the officer’s original city or town hire, not the later move to the sheriff’s office.
Did Washington’s 1991 machine-gun prohibition apply to armed forces members when they were off duty?
The AG said the then-existing statute exempted members of the United States or Washington armed forces without an official-duty condition. It contrasted the separate exemption for peace officers,…
How were irrigation assessments handled when a Washington county or irrigation district sold foreclosed land?
The AG distinguished who held the land. A district could not give its buyer a deed until the buyer paid the outstanding taxes and assessments, even if they exceeded market value. A county selling…
Did a Washington counseling business have to register as a counselor because it employed counselors?
No. The AG said the registration and disciplinary provisions applied to individuals who performed counseling services, not the employing business merely as an employer. Whether a person was covered…
Did Washington’s mandatory HIV-testing law for sexual-offense convictions apply to juvenile adjudications?
No. The AG said the 1991 statute applied to people convicted of a sexual offense, while a juvenile adjudication under the Juvenile Justice Act was not a criminal conviction under that provision.
Could Washington cities and counties limit how many terms their elected local officials served?
The AG said charter cities and counties, noncharter first-class cities, and noncharter code cities had that authority. It distinguished their adoption methods: charter governments could use routes…
Could Washington’s governor create binding wetlands rules by executive order without statutory authority?
No. The AG said an executive order could state policy or direct officials, but could not create obligations with the force of law without constitutional or statutory authority. It found no such…
Did a Washington contractor offering only chiropractic coverage owe a health insurance pool assessment for those subscribers?
No. The AG said the assessment formula counted people covered under a “health plan,” which then required both hospital and medical benefits. Chiropractic-only coverage without hospital services did…
Could a school-district risk pool issue revenue anticipation notes through a newly created interlocal entity?
The AG said districts could create a separate risk-pool entity, but the interlocal agreement gave it no new substantive power. Because educational service districts lacked authority to issue the…
Could Washington require a recovered LEOFF Plan II officer to repeat basic training after a disability-related break in service?
No. The AG said the training commission could not apply its basic-training rule as a condition of reemployment when the officer’s service break was due solely to disability under the restoration statute.
Could a Washington local government pay employee medical benefits directly without an express self-funding statute?
The AG said charter counties, charter and code cities, and municipal corporations acting in a proprietary capacity had broad enough powers to self-fund if consistent with their authority. Other…
Could a Washington community college bypass its enrollment cap by labeling regular tuition classes “self-supporting”?
No. The AG said genuine contract education for outside entities could fall outside the enrollment limit, but merely calling otherwise ordinary students contract students did not let a college exceed…
Could a Washington community college give its president a fixed monthly car stipend outside the state travel-reimbursement system?
The AG said no to the described reimbursement stipend. Before 1990, trustees’ salary-setting power did not authorize expense reimbursement, and the later compensation wording did not let them…
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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.