Featured Inquiry (12/11/06)

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Question

Do counties have the authority to establish crimes with penalties for acts that are not criminal under state law?

Answer

Yes, but only misdemeanor crimes. The statutory authority is RCW 36.32.120(7), which provides that the legislative authorities of the several counties shall:

Make and enforce, by appropriate resolutions or ordinances, all such police and sanitary regulations as are not in conflict with state law, and within the unincorporated area of the county may adopt by reference Washington state statutes and recognized codes and/or compilations printed in book form relating to the construction of buildings, the installation of plumbing, the installation of electric wiring, health, or other subjects, and may adopt such codes and/or compilations or portions thereof, together with amendments thereto, or additions thereto . . . Any violation of such regulations, ordinances, codes, compilations, and/or statutes or resolutions shall constitute a misdemeanor or a civil violation subject to a monetary penalty.

In AGO 1982 No. 9, the attorney general’s office concluded that this language meant that counties were limited to establishing misdemeanor crimes: "counties may not establish, or create, a gross misdemeanor since, by virtue of RCW 36.32.120(7), any violation of a county criminal ordinance is an ordinary misdemeanor only."