Brief Description: Honoring the Reverend Doctor Martin Luther King, Jr.

Sponsors: Senators Kline, Franklin, Shin, Keiser, Weinstein, Poulsen, Thibaudeau, Prentice, Kohl-Welles, Eide, Finkbeiner, Rasmussen and Pridemore.

Hearing Date: 3/18/05

Staff: Jim Morishima (786-7191).

Background:

King County was established on December 22, 1852, when Washington was still part of the Oregon Territory. The county was named after William Rufus Devane King, who was a long-tenured Senator from Alabama and Vice President of the United States under Franklin Pierce (King is the only Vice President ever to take the oath of office on foreign soil). King died shortly after assuming the office of Vice President on April 18, 1853.

On February 14, 1986, the King County Council renamed King County after the Reverend Doctor Martin Luther King, Jr. A similar change was not made in state law.

Summary of Bill:

King County is renamed in honor of the Reverend Doctor Martin Luther King, Jr.

Appropriation: None.

Fiscal Note: Not requested.

Effective Date: The bill takes effect 90 days after adjournment of session in which bill is passed.