The Washington State Supreme Court ruled against Spokane County which will have to add two county commissioners by 2022. | Pixabay
The Washington State Supreme Court ruled against Spokane County which will have to add two county commissioners by 2022. | Pixabay
Spokane County will add two more county commissioners to its ranks by 2022 following a ruling by the Washington Supreme Court, according to a Spokane County press release.
The county along with the Washington State Association of Counties has filed a suit challenging a 2018 law that violated the state’s uniformity clause. Former commissioner John Roskelley and current commissioner Al French were named as plaintiffs. The court’s decision was unanimous and overturned 105 years of legal precedence.
In 2018, the state legislature passed a bill that mandated non-charter counties with populations greater than 400,000 to increase the number of commissioners from three to five. The county had rejected the expansion in a proposition in 2015, the press release reported.
“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,” French said the press release reported.
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