BP BHEAD INT S

AN ACT Relating to replacement of a county assessor or county auditor within counties that are not home rule charter counties; amending RCW 36.16.030; adding a new section to chapter 36.21 RCW; and adding a new section to chapter 36.22 RCW.

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

Sec. 1. RCW 36.16.030 and 1996 c 108 s 1 are each amended to read as follows:

Except as provided elsewhere in this section, in every county there shall be elected from among the qualified voters of the county a county assessor, a county auditor, a county clerk, a county coroner, three county commissioners, a county prosecuting attorney, a county sheriff and a county treasurer, except that in each county with a population of less than forty thousand no coroner shall be elected and the prosecuting attorney shall be ex officio coroner. Whenever the population of a county increases to forty thousand or more, the prosecuting attorney shall continue as ex officio coroner until a coroner is elected, at the next general election at which the office of prosecuting attorney normally would be elected, and assumes office as provided in RCW 29.04.170. In any county where the population has once attained forty thousand people and a current coroner is in office and a subsequent census indicates less than forty thousand people, the county legislative authority may maintain the office of coroner by resolution or ordinance. If the county legislative authority has not passed a resolution or enacted an ordinance to maintain the office of coroner, the elected coroner shall remain in office for the remainder of the term for which he or she was elected, but no coroner shall be elected at the next election at which that office would otherwise be filled and the prosecuting attorney shall be the ex officio coroner. In a county with a population of two hundred fifty thousand or more, the county legislative authority may replace the office of coroner with a medical examiner system and appoint a medical examiner as specified in RCW 36.24.190. In a county with a population of two hundred fifty thousand or more that is not a home rule charter county, the county legislative authority may replace the office of assessor as specified in section 2 of this act or the office of auditor as specified in section 3 of this act. A noncharter county may have five county commissioners as provided in RCW 36.32.010 and 36.32.055 through 36.32.0558.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 2. A new section is added to chapter 36.21 RCW to read as follows:

In a county with a population of two hundred fifty thousand or more that is not a home rule charter county, the county legislative authority may, upon majority vote at an election called by the county legislative authority, adopt a system under which an officer may be appointed to replace the office of the assessor. The county legislative authority must adopt a resolution or ordinance that replaces the office of assessor at least thirty days prior to the first day of filing for the primary election for county offices. If a county adopts such a resolution or ordinance, the resolution or ordinance shall be referred to the voters for confirmation or rejection at the next date for a special election that is more than forty-five days from the date the resolution or ordinance was adopted. If the resolution or ordinance is approved by majority vote, no election shall be held for the position of assessor and the assessor's position is abolished following the expiration of the assessor's term of office or upon vacating of the office of the assessor for any reason. The county legislative authority shall appoint an officer to assume the statutory duties performed by the county assessor and the appointment shall become effective following the expiration of the assessor's term of office or upon the vacating of the office of the assessor.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 3. A new section is added to chapter 36.22 RCW to read as follows:

In a county with a population of two hundred fifty thousand or more that is not a home rule charter county, the county legislative authority may, upon majority vote at an election called by the county legislative authority, adopt a system under which an officer may be appointed to replace the office of the auditor. The county legislative authority must adopt a resolution or ordinance that replaces the office of auditor at least thirty days prior to the first day of filing for the primary election for county offices. If a county adopts such a resolution or ordinance, the resolution or ordinance shall be referred to the voters for confirmation or rejection at the next date for a special election that is more than forty-five days from the date the resolution or ordinance was adopted. If the resolution or ordinance is approved by majority vote, no election shall be held for the position of auditor and the auditor's position is abolished following the expiration of the auditor's term of office or upon vacating of the office of the auditor for any reason. The county legislative authority shall appoint an officer to assume the statutory duties performed by the county auditor and the appointment shall become effective following the expiration of the auditor's term of office or upon the vacating of the office of the auditor.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 4. If any provision of this act or its application to any person or circumstance is held invalid, the remainder of the act or the application of the provision to other persons or circumstances is not affected.