SENATE BILL REPORT

                   SB 5637

               As Passed Senate, March 12, 1997

Title:  An act relating to the residency of the county road engineer.

Brief Description:  Removing residency requirements for county road engineers.

Sponsors:  Senators Haugen, Horn, Rasmussen and Winsley; by request of County Road Administration Board.

Brief History:

Committee Activity:  Government Operations:  2/18/97 [DP].

Passed Senate, 3/12/97, 46-0.

SENATE COMMITTEE ON GOVERNMENT OPERATIONS

Majority Report:  Do pass.

  Signed by Senators McCaslin, Chair; Hale, Vice Chair; Anderson, Haugen, Horn, Patterson and Swanson.

Staff:  Eugene Green (786-7405)

Background:  The county legislative authority of each county with a population of 8,000 or more must employee a full-time county road engineer who resides in the county.  The county legislative authority of each other county (Ferry, Columbia, Wahkiakum, Garfield) must employ a county engineer on either a full-time or part-time basis, who need not be a resident of the county, or may contract with another county for the services of a county road engineer.

Summary of Bill:  The requirement that the full-time county road engineer of each county with a population of 8,000 or more must reside in the county is eliminated.

Appropriation:  None.

Fiscal Note:  Not requested.

Effective Date:  Ninety days after adjournment of session in which bill is passed.

Testimony For:  The requirement is no longer needed.  This is from a long time ago when transportation was slow, so it was necessary to have the county engineer live not too far from the courthouse.

Testimony Against:  None.

Testified:  Peter Hahn, Snohomish County (pro); Eric Berger, CRAB (pro).