S-5095.1  _______________________________________________

 

                    SUBSTITUTE SENATE BILL 6530

          _______________________________________________

 

State of Washington      54th Legislature     1996 Regular Session

 

By Senate Committee on Government Operations (originally sponsored by Senators Haugen and Winsley)

 

Read first time 02/02/96.

 

Changing provisions related to counties.



    AN ACT Relating to counties; amending RCW 2.28.139, 36.70.040, 36.87.030, 36.87.040, 41.14.080, 70.48.100, 70.95I.040, 84.48.028, and 84.48.032; reenacting and amending RCW 36.81.121 and 36.88.010; and adding a new section to chapter 36.115 RCW.

 

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

 

    Sec. 1.  RCW 2.28.139 and Code 1881 s 2111 are each amended to read as follows:

    The county in which the court is held shall furnish the court house, a jail or suitable place for confining prisoners, books for record, stationery, lights, ((wood, attendance,)) and other incidental expenses of the court house and court which are not paid by the United States.

 

    Sec. 2.  RCW 36.70.040 and 1963 c 4 s 36.70.040 are each amended to read as follows:

    (1) By ordinance a board may, as an alternative to and in lieu of the creation of a planning commission as provided in RCW 36.70.030, create a planning department which shall be organized and function as any other department of the county.  When such department is created, the board shall also create a planning commission which shall assist the planning department in carrying out its duties, including assistance in the preparation and execution of the comprehensive plan and recommendations to the department for the adoption of official controls and/or amendments thereto.  To this end, the planning commission shall conduct such hearings as are required by this chapter and shall make findings and conclusions therefrom which shall be transmitted to the department which shall transmit the same on to the board with such comments and recommendations it deems necessary.

    (2) As an alternative to the requirement of creating a planning commission, a county planning under chapter 36.70A RCW may establish an alternative method of soliciting assistance from the public in the preparation and execution of a comprehensive plan and its implementing rules consistent with RCW 36.70A.140.

 

    Sec. 3.  RCW 36.81.121 and 1994 c 179 s 2 and 1994 c 158 s 8 are each reenacted and amended to read as follows:

    (1) Before ((July 1st of)) the adoption of the budget each year, the legislative authority of each county, after one or more public hearings thereon, shall prepare and adopt a comprehensive transportation program for the ensuing six calendar years.  If the county has adopted a comprehensive plan pursuant to chapter 35.63 or 36.70 RCW, the inherent authority of a charter county derived from its charter, or chapter 36.70A RCW, the program shall be consistent with this comprehensive plan.

    The program shall include proposed road and bridge construction work and other transportation facilities and programs deemed appropriate, and for those counties operating ferries shall also include a separate section showing proposed capital expenditures for ferries, docks, and related facilities.  Copies of the program shall be filed with the county road administration board and with the state secretary of transportation not more than thirty days after its adoption by the legislative authority.  The purpose of this section is to assure that each county shall perpetually have available advanced plans looking to the future for not less than six years as a guide in carrying out a coordinated transportation program.  The program may at any time be revised by a majority of the legislative authority but only after a public hearing thereon.

    (2) Each six-year transportation program forwarded to the secretary in compliance with subsection (1) of this section shall contain information as to how a county will expend its moneys, including funds made available pursuant to chapter 47.30 RCW, for nonmotorized transportation purposes.

    (3) Each six-year transportation program forwarded to the secretary in compliance with subsection (1) of this section shall contain information as to how a county shall act to preserve railroad right-of-way in the event the railroad ceases to operate in the county's jurisdiction.

    (4) The six-year plan for each county shall specifically set forth those projects and programs of regional significance for inclusion in the transportation improvement program within that region.

 

    Sec. 4.  RCW 36.87.030 and 1963 c 4 s 36.87.030 are each amended to read as follows:

    On the filing of the petition and bond ((and on being satisfied that)) the county road engineer shall determine whether the petition satisfies RCW 36.87.020 and whether the petition has been signed by petitioners residing in the vicinity of the county road or portion thereof((, the board shall direct the county road engineer to report upon such vacation and abandonment)).  Upon making a finding that the petition is satisfactory, the county road engineer shall prepare an engineering report in accordance with RCW 36.87.040 and submit the report to the county legislative authority.  Upon receipt of a satisfactory petition and the county road engineer's report, the county legislative authority shall hold a public hearing in accordance with RCW 36.87.050 and 36.87.060.

 

    Sec. 5.  RCW 36.87.040 and 1963 c 4 s 36.87.040 are each amended to read as follows:

    ((When directed by the board)) The county road engineer shall examine any county road or portion thereof proposed to be vacated and abandoned and report his opinion as to whether the county road should be vacated and abandoned, whether the same is in use or has been in use, the condition of the road, whether it will be advisable to preserve it for the county road system in the future, whether the public will be benefited by the vacation and abandonment, and all other facts, matters, and things which will be of importance to the board, and also file his cost bill.

 

    Sec. 6.  RCW 36.88.010 and 1985 c 400 s 3 and 1983 c 369 s 7 are each reenacted and amended to read as follows:

    All counties have the power to create county road improvement districts for the acquisition of rights of way and improvement of county road((s)) systems, existing private roads that will become county roads as a result of this improvement district process and, with the approval of the state department of transportation, state highways; for the construction or improvement of necessary drainage facilities, bulkheads, retaining walls, and other appurtenances therefor, bridges, culverts, sidewalks, curbs and gutters, escalators, or moving sidewalks; and for the draining or filling of drainage potholes or swamps.  Such counties have the power to levy and collect special assessments against the real property specially benefited thereby for the purpose of paying the whole or any part of the cost of such acquisition of rights of way, construction, or improvement.

 

    Sec. 7.  RCW 41.14.080 and 1980 c 108 s 1 are each amended to read as follows:

    All appointments to and promotions to positions in the classified civil service of the office of county sheriff shall be made solely on merit, efficiency, and fitness, which shall be ascertained by open competitive examination and impartial investigation((:  PROVIDED, That before June 30, 1981,)).  However, employees in an existing county personnel system in which appointments have been made on merit may be transferred to newly created and classified positions within such county's sheriff's office, in order to permanently transfer the functions of these positions, without meeting the open competitive examination requirements of this section if the transfer is approved by the civil service commission created in RCW 41.14.030, and the persons to be transferred shall satisfy the specific appointment requirements of such sheriff's office.  No person in the classified civil service shall be reinstated in or transferred, suspended, or discharged from any such place, position, or employment contrary to the provisions of this chapter.

 

    Sec. 8.  RCW 70.48.100 and 1990 c 3 s 130 are each amended to read as follows:

    (1) A department of corrections or chief law enforcement officer responsible for the operation of a jail shall maintain a jail register which can be kept electronically, open to the public, into which shall be entered in a timely basis:

    (a) The name of each person confined in the jail with the hour, date and cause of the confinement; and

    (b) The hour, date and manner of each person's discharge.

    (2) Except as provided in subsection (3) of this section the records of a person confined in jail shall be held in confidence and shall be made available only to criminal justice agencies as defined in RCW 43.43.705; or

    (a) ((For use in inspections made pursuant to RCW 70.48.070;

    (b))) In jail certification proceedings;

    (((c))) (b) For use in court proceedings upon the written order of the court in which the proceedings are conducted; or

    (((d))) (c) Upon the written permission of the person.

    (3)(a) Law enforcement may use booking photographs of a person arrested or confined in a local or state penal institution to assist them in conducting investigations of crimes.

    (b) Photographs and information concerning a person convicted of a sex offense as defined in RCW 9.94A.030 may be disseminated as provided in RCW 4.24.550, 9A.44.130, 9A.44.140, 10.01.200, 43.43.540, 43.43.745, 46.20.187, 70.48.470, 72.09.330, and section 401, chapter 3, Laws of 1990.

 

    Sec. 9.  RCW 70.95I.040 and 1991 c 319 s 305 are each amended to read as follows:

    (1) A person annually selling one thousand or more gallons of lubricating oil to ultimate consumers for use or installation off the premises, or five hundred or more vehicle oil filters to ultimate consumers for use or installation off the premises within a city or county having an approved used oil recycling element, shall:

    (a) Post and maintain at or near the point of sale, durable and legible signs informing the public of the importance of used oil recycling and how and where used oil may be properly recycled; and

    (b) Provide for sale at or near the display location of the lubricating oil or vehicle oil filters, household used oil recycling containers.  The department shall design and print the signs required by this section, and shall make them available to local governments and retail outlets.

    (2) A person, who, after notice, violates this section is guilty of a misdemeanor and on conviction is subject to a fine not to exceed one thousand dollars.

    (3) The department is responsible for notifying retailers subject to this section.

    (4) A city or county may adopt household used oil recycling container standards in order to ensure compatibility with local recycling programs.

    (5) Each local government preparing a used oil recycling element of a local hazardous waste plan pursuant to RCW 70.95I.020 shall ((adopt ordinances)) work within its jurisdiction to ((enforce)) ensure compliance with subsections (1) and (4) of this section.

 

    NEW SECTION.  Sec. 10.  A new section is added to chapter 36.115 RCW to read as follows:

    (1) There is hereby created a commission on county services and sources, referred to in this section and section 11 of this act as "the commission."

    (2) The commission shall consist of voting members appointed as follows:

    (a) Four members of the state legislature, two appointed by the speaker of the house of representatives, two appointed by the president of the senate, one from each caucus of the respective house;

    (b) Two members from the office of financial management and the department of community, trade, and economic development;

    (c) Four members from the Washington state association of counties, appointed jointly by the speaker of the house of representatives and the president of the senate;

    (d) Two members from the association of Washington cities, appointed jointly by the speaker of the house of representatives and the president of the senate;

    (e) One member from the Washington state association of sewer and water districts, appointed jointly by the speaker of the house of representatives and the president of the senate;

    (f) One member from the Washington state fire commissioners association, appointed jointly by the speaker of the house of representatives and the president of the senate; and

    (g) The lieutenant governor, who shall serve as chair of the commission.

    (3) Staff for the commission shall be provided by the finance committees of the house of representatives and the senate, the office of financial management, the department of revenue, and the Washington state association of counties.  Other state agencies and local governments shall provide assistance as needed.

 

    Sec. 11.  RCW 84.48.028 and 1994 c 124 s 28 are each amended to read as follows:

    The ((board)) county legislative authority may appoint a clerk of the board and any assistants the board might need, all to serve at the pleasure of the ((members of the board)) county legislative authority, and the clerk or assistant shall attend all sessions ((thereof)) of the county board of equalization, and shall keep the record.  Neither the assessor nor any of the assessor's staff may serve as clerk.

 

    Sec. 12.  RCW 84.48.032 and 1994 c 124 s 29 are each amended to read as follows:

    The ((board)) county legislative authority may hire one or more appraisers accredited by the department of revenue or certified by the Washington state department of licensing, society of real estate appraisers, American institute of real estate appraisers, or international association of assessing officers, and not otherwise employed by the county, and other necessary personnel for the purpose of aiding the board and carrying out its functions and duties.  In addition, the boards of the various counties may make reciprocal arrangements for the exchange of the appraisers with other counties.  Such appraisers need not be residents of the county.

 


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