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.
No Washington opinions match these filters
Try a different search term or clear the filters.
Did cutting a platted Washington lot in half to sell one half to an adjoining owner count as a boundary-line adjustment in 1986?
The Attorney General said no for either arrangement posed. Creating an extra lot or drawing a new plat boundary for a sale was a short subdivision under the law the AG analyzed, not the statutory…
Could Washington invest school, pension, and industrial insurance funds through securities lending and reverse repurchase agreements in 1986?
The Attorney General concluded that the State Investment Board could use both arrangements for the specified funds under then-existing constitutional amendments and investment statutes. It also…
When a Washington county assessor appealed an equalization board’s property valuation, which value received the statutory presumption of correctness in 1986?
The Attorney General concluded that the presumption attached to the assessor’s valuation, not the county equalization board’s revised value. The State Board of Tax Appeals had to decide whether…
Could Washington shorten sitting liquor board members’ terms without paying the salary for the years cut off?
The Attorney General concluded in 1986 that shortening these statutory terms did not give members a right to salary and benefits for the removed years. The legislation had to address the offices…
Did Washington crop liens have to be recorded or only filed with the county auditor in 1986?
The Attorney General said the statute’s word “filed” meant filed for record. The auditor was to record a copy of the crop lien, return the original to the claimant, and index it like a deed or other…
Could a Washington home-rule county council direct how the prosecutor spent an appropriation?
The Attorney General said in 1986 that the council could attach allocation conditions, but could not use them to effectively prevent the prosecutor from performing statutory duties. Whether a…
Could a Washington town adopt county rules by agreement and have county staff enforce them?
The 1985 AG said an agreement alone could not make county police or sanitary rules town law. The town could enact its own identical ordinance, then contract for county employees to enforce it if the…
How many votes could a home-rule county cast when filling a Washington legislative vacancy shared with another county?
The 1985 AG said each county had up to three votes in the joint appointment, even if a home-rule county council had more than three members. Absent a charter rule, its members’ votes should be…
Could a former Washington county commissioner be appointed to a vacant Senate seat after resigning?
The 1985 AG said yes if the commissioner resigned unconditionally before the appointment process and there was no prior agreement to appoint that person. The opinion distinguished earlier rulings…
Could a Washington county’s emergency telephone tax reach lines inside its cities and towns?
The 1985 AG said yes. The countywide emergency communications tax authorized by chapter 82.14B RCW covered telephone access lines in incorporated cities and towns as well as unincorporated areas,…
Could a Washington school district charge parents for an early kindergarten or first-grade admission test?
The 1985 AG said no. It found no statute expressly or by fair implication allowing a school district to charge for pre-admission testing of resident children seeking early entry to kindergarten or…
Could a Washington school district move unspent federal forest money from its building fund to operations?
The 1985 AG said yes on the facts given. Because the federal forest money had merely been placed in the capital projects fund and had not been appropriated for a capital purpose, RCW 43.09.210 did…
Did Washington’s 1985 building-code approval rule invalidate local residential code amendments adopted earlier?
The 1985 AG said no. The new requirement that the State Building Code Council approve local residential-code amendments applied prospectively, so a county or city amendment adopted before the law…
Did a previously married woman in Washington need a court order to change her surname after divorce in 1985?
The Attorney General said no. The name-change and dissolution-order statutes provided optional ways to document a change; the common-law right to use another name remained, absent fraud or…
When a Washington district court suspended part of a fine in 1985, was the public-safety assessment based on the whole fine?
The Attorney General said no. The public safety and education assessment was calculated only on the unsuspended part of the fine; counting the suspended amount would undermine the court’s separate…
Could a Washington group insurer offer narrower mental-health coverage after a policyholder waived the required three-provider offer in 1985?
The Attorney General said yes, if the insurer first made the full required offer in good faith and the contract holder waived it entirely. The parties could then negotiate narrower coverage, such as…
Did Washington LEOFF medical benefits cover injury to a bridge or filling, and was damage while eating automatically covered in 1985?
The Attorney General said “teeth” included previously installed dental work. Whether damage while eating was an accidental injury required a case-specific finding by the local disability board; the…
Could a new Washington governor designate a different Human Rights Commission chair while the prior chair remained a commissioner?
The Attorney General said yes in 1985. Commissioners had fixed terms and cause-based removal protection, but the chair designation had no fixed term and could be changed by the governor without…
Could a federally approved apprentice on a partly federally funded Washington public project receive the state apprentice prevailing wage in 1985?
The Attorney General said no. The state statute required registration and approval by the state apprenticeship council; a federal-only approved program did not substitute, and mixed federal and…
Could Washington university regents discuss and approve a president’s salary in an executive session under the 1985 open-meetings law?
The Attorney General said the then-current law did not clearly bar closed discussion of an individual employee’s pay. Whether final approval in executive session was allowed remained uncertain and…
Could Washington monitor and regulate radioactive releases from the federal PUREX facility at Hanford in 1985?
The Attorney General concluded that federal law did not give Washington general regulatory authority over the facility’s radioactive emissions. The 1977 federal Clean Air Act amendments provided an…
Did an injured Washington worker in unpaid on-the-job rehabilitation training qualify for minimum wage in 1985?
The Attorney General said state and federal minimum-wage laws generally would not apply to the described trainee receiving disability benefits but no wages from the training employer. A court could…
Could a joint board of Washington county commissioners appoint one of its own members to a vacant House seat in a multi-county district?
The Attorney General concluded in 1985 that the joint appointing boards could not choose one of their own commissioners. The common-law rule against self-appointment applied regardless of the…
Could a Washington mobile-home park ban a tenant’s ordinary “for sale” sign?
The 1984 AG said no. A park rule barring ordinary sale signs on a tenant’s mobile home or leased lot interfered with the tenant’s protected right to sell the home in the park.
Could a parent carry a child under five on a motorcycle under Washington’s 1984 child-restraint law?
The 1984 AG said the restraint law covered a parent or guardian operating their own motorcycle with a child under five aboard. Because no motorcycle restraint had then been approved, the opinion…
Did Washington state buildings have to comply with a city electrical code and pay city inspection fees?
The 1984 AG said yes when a city had adopted an electrical code at least as strong as state standards. That city’s code and inspection system applied to new state buildings within its limits, and…
Could a Washington city ban firearm possession while intoxicated and require forfeiture?
The 1984 AG said a local intoxicated-possession offense turned on its effect on state constitutional gun rights, not automatically on the cited preemption statute. Mandatory firearm forfeiture,…
Could Washington create an agricultural commodity commission under either of its two enabling acts?
The 1984 AG said yes. The 1961 act had not displaced the 1955 act, but a new commission had to follow the referendum and approval rules of whichever act it used.
Could Washington let community colleges use state trust land without paying rent?
The 1984 AG said the legislature could permit eligible institutions, including community colleges, to use lands granted for charitable, educational, penal, and reformatory purposes without charge…
Could a Washington sheriff collect a fee after trying but failing to execute an arrest warrant?
The 1984 AG said a sheriff who unsuccessfully tried to execute an arrest warrant could collect the return fee and mileage if the sheriff made a return describing the failed efforts. The higher fee…
Could the Washington State Patrol hire its own attorney instead of using the Attorney General?
The 1984 AG said the Patrol could not employ an attorney as its legal adviser in place of the Attorney General. It could employ a qualified lawyer for duties outside the AG’s legal counsel and…
Could Washington invest industrial insurance funds in corporate stock under Amendment 49?
The 1984 AG concluded that Amendment 49 covered public employee pension funds, not industrial insurance funds. Legislative authorization alone therefore could not put the industrial insurance funds…
Could a Washington taxpayer seek an administrative property-tax refund more than three years after paying?
The 1984 AG said no when a taxpayer filed a claim more than three years after payment, even if the Board of Tax Appeals later reduced the valuation. The opinion recognized a separate exception where…
How were Washington pro tem district judges paid, and did a part-time judge get extra pay for visiting another district?
The 1984 AG said a pro tem district judge earned one two-hundred-fiftieth of a full-time district judge’s annual salary per session day, even when replacing a part-time judge. A part-time judge…
If a quarry drained a Washington well, how did the 1984 AG measure the well owner’s groundwater right?
The 1984 AG said the answer depended on the aquifer and feasible well technology: a prior right was protected if it could not be satisfied at a reasonable or feasible pumping depth after the…
Could a Washington landlord assign interest earned on tenant security deposits to a property manager?
The 1984 AG said yes where the interest belonged to the landlord under the rental arrangement. The owner could assign it to the broker managing the property, but the bank had to credit the broker’s…
Did Washington’s 1984 Convention Center construction-manager contract need competitive bidding?
The 1984 AG said the construction phase of the proposed management contract needed the concept of competitive bidding under state public-works law. It approved the Center’s modified procedure that…
Could a Washington sheriff keep unclaimed cash found during official duties for investigations or equipment?
The 1984 AG said no. Chapter 63.40 RCW allowed retention of certain usable property, but not cash for the sheriff’s own budget; unclaimed money obtained in official duties belonged to the county and…
After paying a partial-disability award, did a self-insured Washington employer still owe pension reserve money for a later total disability?
The 1984 AG generally said yes when an industrial injury combined with a preexisting disability to cause permanent total disability. The employer owed the accident cost attributable to the new…
Could a Washington agricultural producer claim a preparer lien against a dairy business licensed under dairy law?
The 1984 AG said yes. The Commission Merchants Act exemption for dairy licensees relieved them of that act’s licensing and bonding rules, but did not remove the later statutory preparer lien that…
Could a Washington lawyer appointed as a temporary judge perform a marriage ceremony on that basis alone?
The 1984 AG said no. A lawyer or retired former judge serving pro tem in a superior or appellate court did not gain marriage-solemnization authority solely from that temporary assignment; separate…
Could a Washington port district annex a separate, nonadjacent part of its county?
The 1984 AG said no under RCW 53.04.080. The port-district annexation statute did not expressly authorize taking in noncontiguous territory, so the AG read a contiguity requirement into it.
Did Washington’s 1983 minority and women business law require set-asides in state grants for local jail construction?
The 1984 AG said no. The Corrections Standards Board did not have to set participation goals for funds it awarded local governments, and the law did not add duties to local jail projects contracted…
Could Washington’s state auditor directly audit a nonprofit economic development council receiving local government funds in 1984?
The Attorney General said the described councils were not municipal or quasi-municipal corporations subject to automatic municipal audits. The auditor could nevertheless examine their records as…
Could a Washington sheriff set deputy salaries contrary to the county commissioners’ decision in 1984?
The Attorney General said no. The civil-service statute preserved whatever salary authority an appointing officer already had, but did not create new authority for the sheriff; the county…
Could Franklin County’s boundary board review a Pasco-Richland-Kennewick consolidation, and did environmental review apply in 1984?
The Attorney General said the Franklin County board had jurisdiction because Pasco was in that county, but its issue was whether Pasco should join the proposed new city. The State Environmental…
Could King County use a road service district to finance work on Seattle’s First Avenue South Bridge in 1984?
The Attorney General said no. The bridge was part of State Route 99, so it was a state highway rather than a county road; the county road service-district financing authority did not cover it even…
Did a Washington port district need a vote to continue its special tax levy after year six in 1984?
The Attorney General said a vote was required only after the district published its continuation notice and a sufficient opposition petition was filed. Publication itself was required; without a…
Which professional, amateur, and semiprofessional athletes qualified for Washington workers’ compensation in 1984?
The Attorney General said paid professionals assigned to a Washington team generally qualified even if an out-of-state organization signed and paid them. Unpaid amateur players receiving only travel…
Could Washington deny a hydraulic project permit because construction interfered with people catching fish in 1984?
The Attorney General said no under the amended permit statute. Denial or conditions had to protect fish life; a physical conflict with fishing or shellfish harvesting was not itself a permitted ground.
Could Washington’s Parks Commission issue statewide boating safety equipment rules based on Coast Guard standards in 1984?
The Attorney General said no under the statute then in force. The commission could make rules needed to administer its assigned boating program, but the statute did not delegate general statewide…
Did a Washington school district have to solicit competitive bids before contracting for pupil transportation in 1984?
The Attorney General said the school-district bidding statute did not require bids for pupil transportation service contracts. Districts could still seek bids voluntarily, and the separate…
Could a Washington weed district assess city-owned land lying outside city limits in 1984?
The Attorney General said no. It read the weed-district statutes and their history as limiting the assessments to land subject to general property taxation, excluding city-owned land wherever situated.
Did offering one parcel from a larger Washington tract trigger short-subdivision rules?
The 1983 AG said yes: identifying a sale parcel in a legally sufficient offer or contract divided the tract for short-subdivision purposes. The opinion also identified statutory exemptions and a…
How soon could Washington dissolve a corporation for not paying its annual license fee in 1983?
The 1983 AG said delinquency notice could go out on the first day after timely payment ended. Dissolution followed no sooner than 65 days after mailing that notice if the corporation did not cure…
Could a licensed Washington surplus-lines broker lose their license for an unlawful placement?
The 1983 AG said yes. Permission to place coverage with an unauthorized insurer depended on following chapter 48.15; a broker who violated it could be fined and have the surplus-line license…
Could Washington’s Board of Nursing set approval standards for community-college nursing programs?
The 1983 AG said yes: state-run and private programs alike needed Board of Nursing approval for graduates’ license eligibility. But the board could set training standards only within its authority,…
Were employees of Washington’s State Convention and Trade Center covered by civil service?
The 1983 AG said the corporation was a state agency for civil-service purposes. Most employees were covered unless a specific statutory exemption applied; its board members and certain executive and…
Could Washington’s Hospital Commission require fixed treatment prices and matching insurer payments?
The 1983 AG said no. The commission could not mandate the proposed fixed-charge reimbursement system for hospitals or payors, demand patient data solely for that unauthorized system, or let…
Could Washington state employees cash out or carry over extra vacation leave created in 1983?
The 1983 AG said the new extra leave was a separate category that could not be cashed out at termination, mixed with older excess leave, or deferred past the next anniversary date.
Browse Washington opinions by topic
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.