AN ACT Relating to commissioners of courts of limited jurisdiction; and amending RCW 3.50.075 and 26.04.050.

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

Sec. 1. RCW 3.50.075 and 2008 c 227 s 8 are each amended to read as follows:

(1) One or more court commissioners may be appointed by a judge of the municipal court.

(2) Each commissioner holds office at the pleasure of the appointing judge.

(3) Except as provided in subsection (4) of this section, a commissioner ((authorized to hear or dispose of cases))has such power, authority, and jurisdiction in criminal and civil matters as the appointing judges possess, and must be a lawyer who is admitted to practice law in the state of Washington or a nonlawyer who has passed, by January 1, 2003, the qualifying examination for lay judges for courts of limited jurisdiction under RCW 3.34.060.

(4) On or after July 1, 2010, when serving as a commissioner, the commissioner does not have authority to preside over trials in criminal matters, or jury trials in civil matters unless agreed to on the record by all parties.

(5) A commissioner need not be a resident of the city or of the county in which the municipal court is created. When a court commissioner has not been appointed and the municipal court is presided over by a part-time appointed judge, the judge need not be a resident of the city or of the county in which the municipal court is created.

Sec. 2. RCW 26.04.050 and 2017 c 130 s 1 are each amended to read as follows:

The following named officers and persons, active or retired, are hereby authorized to solemnize marriages, to wit: Justices of the supreme court, judges of the court of appeals, judges of the superior courts, supreme court commissioners, court of appeals commissioners, superior court commissioners, judges and commissioners of courts of limited jurisdiction as defined in RCW 3.02.010, judges of tribal courts from a federally recognized tribe, and any regularly licensed or ordained minister or any priest, imam, rabbi, or similar official of any religious organization. The solemnization of a marriage by a tribal court judge pursuant to authority under this section does not create tribal court jurisdiction and does not affect state court authority as otherwise provided by law to enter a judgment for purposes of any dissolution, legal separation, or other proceedings related to the marriage that is binding on the parties and entitled to full faith and credit.

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