Z-0644.1 _______________________________________________
SENATE JOINT RESOLUTION 8221
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State of Washington 52nd Legislature 1991 Regular Session
By Senators Nelson, Talmadge, McMullen, Owen, Thorsness, Moore, Oke and A. Smith.
Read first time January 31, 1991. Referred to Committee on Law & Justice.
BE IT RESOLVED, BY THE SENATE AND HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON, IN LEGISLATIVE SESSION ASSEMBLED:
THAT, At the next general election to be held in this state there shall be submitted to the qualified voters of the state for their approval and ratification, or rejection, an amendment to Article IV, section 6 of the Constitution of the state of Washington to read as follows:
Article
IV, section 6. ((The superior court shall have original jurisdiction in all
cases in equity and in all cases at law which involve the title or possession
of real property, or the legality of any tax, impost, assessment, toll, or
municipal fine, and in all other cases in which the demand or the value of the
property in controversy amounts to three thousand dollars or as otherwise
determined by law, or a lesser sum in excess of the jurisdiction granted to
justices of the peace and other inferior courts, and in all criminal cases
amounting to felony, and in all cases of misdemeanor not otherwise provided for
by law; of actions of forcible entry and detainer; of proceedings in
insolvency; of actions to prevent or abate a nuisance; of all matters of probate,
of divorce, and for annulment of marriage; and for such special cases and
proceedings as are not otherwise provided for.))The legislature shall
determine the number of judges of the superior court to be elected and shall
prescribe by law the powers, duties, and jurisdiction of judges of the superior
court. The superior court shall ((also)) have original jurisdiction
in all cases and of all proceedings in which jurisdiction shall not have been
by law vested exclusively in some other court; and said court shall have the
power of naturalization and to issue papers therefor. They shall have such
appellate jurisdiction in cases arising in ((justices' and other inferior))
courts of limited jurisdiction in their respective counties as may be
prescribed by law. They shall always be open, except on nonjudicial days, and
their process shall extend to all parts of the state. Said courts and their
judges shall have power to issue writs of mandamus, quo warranto, review,
certiorari, prohibition, and writs of habeas corpus, on petition by or on
behalf of any person in actual custody in their respective counties.
Injunctions and writs of prohibition and of habeas corpus may be issued and
served on legal holidays and nonjudicial days.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That the secretary of state shall cause notice of the foregoing constitutional amendment to be published at least four times during the four weeks next preceding the election in every legal newspaper in the state.