CERTIFICATION OF ENROLLMENT

                        SENATE BILL 5831

                   Chapter 401, Laws of 1997

                        55th Legislature

                      1997 Regular Session

VENUE OF ACTIONS BY OR AGAINST COUNTIES--COMMENCEMENT IN NEAREST COUNTIES

                    EFFECTIVE DATE:  7/27/97

Passed by the Senate April 22, 1997   YEAS 37   NAYS 7                BRAD OWEN President of the Senate Passed by the House April 10, 1997   YEAS 98   NAYS 0

CERTIFICATE I, Mike O=Connell, Secretary of the Senate of the State of Washington, do hereby certify that the attached is  SENATE BILL 5831 as passed by the Senate and the House of Representatives on the dates hereon set forth.

CLYDE BALLARD Speaker of the       House of Representatives

MIKE O'CONNELL                             Secretary

Approved May 16, 1997 Place Style On Codes above, and Style Off Codes below.

FILED                        May 16, 1997 - 3:27 p.m.

GARY LOCKE Governor of the State of Washington

Secretary of State                   State of Washington

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                         SENATE BILL 5831

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                      AS AMENDED BY THE HOUSE

             Passed Legislature - 1997 Regular Session

State of Washington      55th Legislature     1997 Regular Session

By Senators Newhouse, Deccio, Haugen and McCaslin

Read first time 02/14/97.  Referred to Committee on Government Operations.

Eliminating provisions allowing adjacent counties as the venue of actions by or against counties.  

    AN ACT Relating to the venue of actions by or against counties; and amending RCW 36.01.050.

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

    Sec. 1.  RCW 36.01.050 and 1963 c 4 s 36.01.050 are each amended to read as follows:

(1) All actions against any county may be commenced in the superior court of such county, or ((of the adjoining county, and)) in the superior court of either of the two nearest counties.  All actions by any county shall be commenced in the superior court of the county in which the defendant resides, or in ((the county adjoining the county by which such action is commenced)) either of the two counties nearest to the county bringing the action.

(2) The determination of the nearest counties is measured by the travel time between county seats using major surface routes, as determined by the office of the administrator for the courts.

    Passed the Senate April 22, 1997.

    Passed the House April 10, 1997.

Approved by the Governor May 16, 1997.

    Filed in Office of Secretary of State May 16, 1997.