Sample Whistleblower Policies

City Policies

• Bellevue Municipal Code Ch. 3.80 City Whistleblower Policy and Procedures
• Brier Ordinance No. 263 - Procedures for Reporting Improper Governmental Action and Providing Protections for Employees against Retaliation (1992)
• Deer Park Resolution No. 1993-001 - Local Government Employee Whistleblower Act Policy (1993)
• Fircrest Resolution No. 494 - Employee Whistleblower Protection Policy (1992)
• Friday Harbor Ordinance No.911 - Reporting Improper Governmental Action and Protecting Employees Against Retaliation (1993)
• Issaquah Resolution No. 93- 14 - Reporting Improper Governmental Action and Protecting City Employees Against Retaliation (1993)
• Langley Personnel Policy Manual-Reporting Improper Governmental Action
• Monroe Reporting Improper Governmental Action and Protecting Employees Against Retaliation Policy (117 KB) (2003)
• Poulsbo Resolution No. 92-26 - Local Government Employee Whistleblower Act (1993)
• Redmond Resolution No. 946 - Adopting a Whistleblower Protection Program (1993)
• Tumwater Employee Code of Ethics and Policy for Reporting Improper Governmental Action and Protecting Employees Against Retaliation (Whistle Blower) (87 KB)(2008)
• Spokane Policy, 02-06

County Ordiance Provisions

• Okanogan County Ordinance (107 KB)

Other Documents

• "Whistleblowing and Free Speech in Public Employment," by Russell L Perisho, Perkins Coie (1992). Reproduced with permission of author. This article provides an excellent overview of the subject of whistleblower protection for local government employees in the State of Washington. However, it was written in 1992 and has not been updated since that date. There have been several legislative amendments since that time to the Washington Local Government Whistleblower Protection Act, Ch. 42.41 RCW. Therefore, check with your city or town attorney to be certain of the current applicability of information contained in this article.
• "Encouraging Internal Whistleblowing in Organizations" by Lilanthi Ravishankar.  Available from the Markkula Center for Applied Ethics of Santa Clara University.
• King County Ombudsman, Whistleblower

Resources

• National Whistleblowers Center - A nonprofit center devoted to helping whisleblowers.
• Government Accountability Project - Another nonprofit organization devoted to assisting whistleblowers.