BILL REQ. #:  S-0398.1 

Read first time 01/17/13.   Referred to Committee on Governmental Operations .

     AN ACT Relating to the annexation of property owned by the state for military purposes; and amending RCW 38.12.020, 35.13.130, and 35.13.125.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:

Sec. 1   RCW 38.12.020 and 2009 c 21 s 1 are each amended to read as follows:
     The adjutant general shall:
     (1) Subject to the orders of the commander-in-chief, command the Washington national guard and recruit, train, maintain, and administer the organized militia of the state of Washington.
     (2) Supervise the preparation and submission of any records required by the federal government, the governor, or as otherwise required by law.
     (3) Maintain records of the organized militia and state military department as required by law. The adjutant general shall deposit records with the state archivist for historical purposes.
     (4) Cause to be published and distributed to the organized militia at state expense necessary documents or publications, to include the Washington code of military justice.
     (5) Keep just and true accounts of all moneys received and disbursed by the military department.
     (6) Attest all commissions issued to military officers of this state.
     (7) Be the custodian of the seal of the office of adjutant general and deliver the same to his or her successor. All orders issued from the office of the adjutant general shall be authenticated with the seal. Orders or records under the seal shall be prima facie proof of certification or authenticity.
     (8) Promulgate in orders such regulations pertaining to the operation and function of the state military department and organized militia, as in his or her opinion the conditions demand.
     (9) Attend to the care, preservation, safekeeping, and repairing of all military property belonging to the state, or issued to the state by the United States for military purposes. Any property of the state military department which, after proper inspection, is found unsuitable or no longer needed for use of the organized militia shall be disposed of in such manner as the governor shall direct and the proceeds thereof used for replacements in kind or by other needed authorized military supplies, and the adjutant general may execute the necessary instruments of conveyance to effect such sale or disposal.
     (10) Issue the military property as the necessity of service requires and make purchases for that purpose.
     (11) Be the custodian of all military relics, trophies, colors, and histories now in possession of, or which may be acquired by, the state.
     (12) Keep a record of all real property owned or used by the state for military purposes, and in connection therewith he or she shall have sole power to execute all leases to acquire the use of real property by the state for military purposes, or lease it to other agencies for use for authorized activities. The adjutant general shall also have full power to execute and grant easements for rights-of-way for construction, operation, and maintenance of utility service, water, sewage, ((and)) drainage for such realty, and to file a petition under RCW 35.13.125 and 35.13.130 to have real property owned by the state for military purposes annexed to a city or town if that property constitutes the whole of the property in the annexation petition.

Sec. 2   RCW 35.13.130 and 2009 c 60 s 3 are each amended to read as follows:
     A petition for annexation of an area contiguous to a city or town may be made in writing addressed to and filed with the legislative body of the municipality to which annexation is desired. Except where all the property sought to be annexed is property of a school district, and the school directors thereof file the petition for annexation as in RCW 28A.335.110 authorized, or all the property sought to be annexed is owned by the state for military purposes, and the adjutant general files a petition for annexation as authorized in RCW 38.12.020, the petition must be signed by the owners of not less than sixty percent in value according to the assessed valuation for general taxation of the property for which annexation is petitioned: PROVIDED, That in cities and towns with populations greater than one hundred sixty thousand located east of the Cascade mountains, the owner of tax exempt property may sign an annexation petition and have the tax exempt property annexed into the city or town, but the value of the tax exempt property shall not be used in calculating the sufficiency of the required property owner signatures unless only tax exempt property is proposed to be annexed into the city or town. The petition shall set forth a description of the property according to government legal subdivisions or legal plats which is in compliance with RCW 35.02.170, and shall be accompanied by a plat which outlines the boundaries of the property sought to be annexed. If the legislative body has required the assumption of all or of any portion of city or town indebtedness by the area annexed, and/or the adoption of a comprehensive plan for the area to be annexed, these facts, together with a quotation of the minute entry of such requirement or requirements shall be set forth in the petition.

Sec. 3   RCW 35.13.125 and 1990 c 33 s 565 are each amended to read as follows:
     Proceedings for the annexation of territory pursuant to RCW 35.13.130, 35.13.140, 35.13.150, 35.13.160 and 35.13.170 shall be commenced as provided in this section. Prior to the circulation of a petition for annexation, the initiating party or parties who, except as provided in RCW 28A.335.110 and 38.12.020, shall be either not less than ten percent of the residents of the area to be annexed or the owners of not less than ten percent in value, according to the assessed valuation for general taxation of the property for which annexation is petitioned, shall notify the legislative body of the city or town in writing of their intention to commence annexation proceedings. The legislative body shall set a date, not later than sixty days after the filing of the request, for a meeting with the initiating parties to determine whether the city or town will accept, reject, or geographically modify the proposed annexation, whether it shall require the simultaneous adoption of the comprehensive plan if such plan has been prepared and filed for the area to be annexed as provided for in RCW 35.13.177 and 35.13.178, and whether it shall require the assumption of all or of any portion of existing city or town indebtedness by the area to be annexed. If the legislative body requires the assumption of all or of any portion of indebtedness and/or the adoption of a comprehensive plan, it shall record this action in its minutes and the petition for annexation shall be so drawn as to clearly indicate this fact. There shall be no appeal from the decision of the legislative body.