Spokane County issued the following announcement on Aug. 20.
In a unanimous decision this week, the Washington State Supreme Court issued its ruling against counties in the case of Spokane County v. State. The case was before the Court after Superior Court Judge Maryann C. Moreno ruled against the lawsuit brought forward by the Washington State Association of Counties (WSAC) and Spokane County, challenging a 2018 law that violates the Washington State Constitutions’ uniformity clause on county government. The filing also named two citizens of Spokane County as plaintiffs in the case; Spokane County Commissioner Al French (R) and former Spokane County Commissioner John Roskelley (D).
To reach its decision, the Court overruled a 1915 decision in State ex rel. Maulsby v Fleming which struck down a legislative scheme that removed the county coroner office in a certain class of counties. The ruling states that “Maulsby applies an erroneous rule of law that improperly restricts the legislature’s constitutional authority under article XI, sections 4 and 5.”
Chair of the Spokane County Board of Commissioners, Al French, stated, “I am disappointed that the Washington State Supreme Court disagreed with us that this legislation is unconstitutional. Over the last two years, it has become clear that constituents throughout the county also believe that this legislation ignores the will of the people. This ruling opens the door for the legislature to establish random metrics that ignore the will of the people in individual counties and could circumvent protections provided to voters in the state constitution. It is a sad day for the people of Spokane County and the State of Washington.”
“The Supreme Court ruling overturns 105 years of the Court’s interpretation, and ours, regarding the uniform system of county government in the State of Washington. Counties across the state may need to start looking toward establishing local county charters to guard against the legislature arbitrarily deciding the system of county government on a county by county basis,” said Eric Johnson, Executive Director of the Washington State Association of Counties.
In 2018, the Washington State Legislature passed SHB 2887, which mandates that non-charter counties with populations greater than 400,000 increase the number of elected county commissioners from three to five members. Spokane County voters will recall that in 2015, Prop. 1 asked the county’s residents to expand the county commission from three to five members. The voters overwhelmingly rejected Prop. 1, which left the commission with three members.
Original source can be found here.
Alerts Sign-up