Municipal Courts
The following information on Municipal Courts in Washington State is excerpted from the City Code Handbook: A Handbook for City Officials of Washington Optional Municipal Code Cities, published by MRSC, March 1997, Report No. 37.
Please see the list of County, City and Town Courts for a comprehensive listing.
MUNICIPAL COURTS
I. ESTABLISHMENT OF COURT SYSTEMS
A. Independent Municipal Court (Ch. 3.50 RCW)
A code city with a population of less than 400,000, may operate an independent municipal court under ch. 3.50 RCW.[RCW 3.50.007. Note that cities with a population in excess of 40O,OOO operate their courts under Ch. 35.20 RCW. No other municipal court system is authorized.] Under this type of system, a city has total control over the operation of its courts [See AGO 1991, No. 13 at 3], is responsible for paying the operating costs of the court, and receives the appropriate fine revenues.
B. Municipal Department as Part of a County District Court (Ch. 3.46 RCW)
Under ch. 3.46 RCW, a code city with a population of less than 400,000 may operate a court as a municipal department in the county district court in the county within which the city is located [RCW 3.50.007]. Although the city pays virtually all of the costs of operating the municipal department, this type of court is not an independent court like one established under ch. 3.50 RCW.
C. Municipal Court Operated Pursuant to an Interlocal Agreement (Ch. 39.34 RCW)
A third municipal court alternative for a code city is to contract with another city which operates a municipal court, or with the county which operates the county district court. The authority for such contracts is found in the provisions of ch. 39.34 RCW, the Interlocal Cooperation Act. Under an interlocal agreement, cities and towns are responsible for all costs involving misdemeanor and gross misdemeanor offenses for adults referred from law enforcement agencies in their jurisdiction [RCW 39.34.180].
II. OPERATION OF AN INDEPENDENT MUNICIPAL COURT UNDER CH. 3.50 RCW
A municipal court is governed by ch. 3.50 RCW which establishes the following procedures.
A. Establishment of Court (RCW 3.50.060)
Any city or town which establishes a municipal court under this statute must do so by December 1st so that the court can begin operation on January 1st of the following year. The court must be established by ordinance.
B. Selection of Judicial Officers
1. Qualifications [RCW 3.50.040]
A municipal judge must be a citizen of the United States and of the State of Washington and be admitted to practice law before the courts of record of this state. In cities with a population of less than 5,000 [RCW 3.50.040], a person other than an attorney may be appointed judge. A municipal court judge need not be a resident of the city in which the court is created, but must be a resident of the county in which the city is located [RCW 3.50.057].
2. Appointment or Election
Although prior to the enactment of RCW 3.50.055, cities had the option of making their municipal judgeships either elective or appointive, since January 1, 1995, vacancies occurring in full-time equivalent municipal court judgeships must be filled by election.
RCW 3.50.055 eliminates the option cities once had to appoint municipal judges for any full-time equivalent position or for any additional judicial position that constitutes more than half of a full-time equivalent position [As defined in RCW 3.50.055, a full-time equivalent judicial position is 35 or more hours per week of compensated time].
In situations in which a judge holds office by virtue of an appointment made prior to January 1, l995, the term of office is not shortened and the judge may serve out his entire term [AGO 1995, No. 4 at 6].
In appointing a person to fill a part-time municipal court judgeship, the appointment by the mayor or chief administrative officer is subject to council confirmation if the council has been given the general power of confirmation over mayoral appointments [RCW 3.50.040].
Before entering into the duties of office, a judge is required to take an oath set out by RCW 3.50.097.
The judicial term commences on January 1, 1986, and on January 1st of every fourth year thereafter [RCW 3.50.040].
3. Salary and Other Expenses [RCW 3.50.080]
The salary of a municipal judge is fixed by ordinance. The judge's salary, salaries of court employees and the cost of all dockets, forms, books of record, furnishings and a suitable place for holding court are paid entirely out of city funds.
4. Judges Pro Tempore
The presiding municipal court judge may appoint judges pro tem to serve in the absence or disability of the court judge. Each judge pro tem must take, subscribe, and file an oath as is taken by a duly appointed or elected judge. RCW 3.50.090.
5. Court Vacancies
Vacancies due to death, disability or resignation of a municipal court judge are filled by the mayor for the remainder of the unexpired term. See RCW 3.50.093. For cities over 400,000, see RCW 35.20.150.
6. Removal from Office
A municipal court judge may be removed from office only upon conviction of misconduct or malfeasance in office, or because of physical or mental disability rendering the judge incapable of performing the duties of the office. See RCW 3.50.095
C. Jurisdiction of Court [RCW 3.50.020]
A municipal court has exclusive original jurisdiction over traffic infractions and criminal violations arising under city ordinances. It also has original jurisdiction of all other actions brought to enforce or recover license penalties or forfeitures prescribed by city ordinance or state statute. A court may forfeit cash bail or bail bonds and hear and determine all causes, civil and criminal, arising under city ordinance. A person convicted of violating a criminal provision may be punished by a fine not to exceed $5,000 or by a jail term not to exceed one year, or by both a fine and jail term [RCW 3.50.440]. Upon conviction, the court has jurisdiction to place a defendant on probation, or suspend or defer his or her sentence. See RCW 3.50.320-.340.
D. Right to Jury Trial [RCW 3.50.135]
Jury trials are allowed in all criminal cases, unless waived by the defendant, but are not available for traffic infractions. In a civil action, either the plaintiff or the defendant may demand a jury.
E. Pleadings, Practice and Procedure
Generally, the pleadings, practice and procedures for municipal courts are set out in RCW 3.50.135 through 3.50.440. Cases not governed by statutes or rules specifically applicable to municipal court are governed "insofar as applicable" by the statutes and rules applicable to district courts [RCW 3.50.450].
F. Termination of Court Services or Repeal of Criminal Ordinances
Cities are no longer able to terminate their municipal courts or repeal their criminal codes without first entering into an agreement for payment of criminal justice costs with the county in which they are located. Cities must agree to pay for the increased costs associated with the county's assumption of cases previously handled by a city. This also applies to termination of a municipal court by a city which has entered into agreements with other cities that have terminated their municipal courts [RCW 39.34.180, RCW 3.50.800-.805 and RCW 35A.11.200; see also Whatcom County v. Bellingham, 128 Wn.2d 537 (1996) in which the court stated that a "repeal in its entirety" of a city criminal code could reasonably be interpreted to mean a deliberate shift of criminal justice costs to the county].
G. Waiting Period for Establishing a New Municipal Court
Any city that terminates a municipal court established under ch.3.50 RCW may not establish a new court under ch. 3.50 RCW until at least 10 years have elapsed from the date of termination [RCW 3.50.810].
H. Dispute Resolution Centers
Cities are authorized to create "dispute resolution centers," allowing persons a forum in which they can resolve disputes in an informal setting [Ch. 7.75 RCW].
III. OPERATION OF A MUNICIPAL DEPARTMENT UNDER CH. 3.46 RCW
As an alternative to creating an independent municipal court under ch.3.50 RCW, any class of city may operate a municipal department as part of a county district court under the procedures outlined in ch. 3.46 RCW. These municipal departments hear cases arising under city ordinances, but they are a part of the larger district court system established in each county [RCW 3.46.030; AGO 1991, No. 13 at 2]. Establishment of a municipal department is initiated by a petition from the city council to the county legislative authority in the manner outlined in RCW 3.46.040.
A. Selection of Judicial Officers [Because of the complex nature of this topic, we are only presenting an outline of the procedures. For a detailed discussion of the law on the selection of judicial officers in municipal courts and municipal departments, see AGO 1995, No.9.]
1. Each judge of a municipal department is a judge of the district court in which the municipal department is situated [RCW 3.46.020]. Judges are selected for the municipal department by election (if the position is full-time) [RCW 3.46.063] The position appears on the ballot as a district court position serving the municipal department. For a full-time municipal department position, only the voters of the city may participate in the election. When the position serves both a municipal department and a regular district court position (hearing non-city cases), then the voters of the entire county district may vote in the election.
Prior to changes that went into effect on January 1, l995, full-time judges for municipal departments could be selected from among the district court judges either by election or appointment as determined by the city council [RCW 3.46.050]. Now each city selects its full-time municipal judges by election, except under certain circumstances a city may still appoint some part-time judges from among the district court judges [RCW 3.46.050, .060, and .063].
2. A judge of a municipal department need not be a resident of the city in which the department is created, but must be a resident of the county in which the city is located [RCW 3.46.067].
3. Vacancies occurring in a full-time municipal department judge position are filled for the unexpired term by appointment by the city, from among the district court bench. A vacancy for a part-time municipal department judge is filled for the unexpired term by appointment in such manner as the city shall determine from the judges of the district, including any judges appointed by the county commissioners to fill an unexpired term [RCW 3.46.100; AGO 1995, No. 9 at 1.].
4. Salaries of full-time municipal judges are paid by the city. However the salary of a district court judge serving a municipal department part-time is to be paid jointly by the county and the city in the same proportion as the time of the judge has been allocated to each. Salaries of court commissioners serving the municipal department are paid by the city [RCW 3.46.090].
5. Term and removal: A municipal judge serves in such capacity for his or her term as district judge and may be removed in the same manner and for the same reasons as he or she may be removed from the office of district judge [RCW 3.46.080].
6. Night sessions: A city may authorize its municipal department to hold night sessions [RCW 3.46.110].
7. Revenue: Under RCW 3.46.120, all money received by the municipal department clerk, including penalties, fines, bail forfeitures, fees and costs, is to be paid to the city treasurer. The city treasurer distributes portions of the revenue received according to the procedures set out in RCW 3.46.120(2)- (5).
B. Jurisdiction of the Court
Municipal departments are granted exclusive jurisdiction of matters arising from ordinances of the city, and only other jurisdictions as conferred by statute [RCW 3.46.030].
C. Termination of Municipal Department or Repeal of Criminal Ordinances
Termination of a municipal department must be done by following the procedures set out in RCW 3.46.150, and only after first entering into an agreement with the county in which the city municipal department is located for covering the costs of handling the resulting criminal cases [RCW 39.34.180].
D. Waiting Period for Establishing a New Municipal Department
-
A city which terminates a municipal department under ch. 3.46 RCW may not
establish another municipal department until at least 10 years have elapsed
from the date of termination [RCW 3.46.155].