The law of Washington consists of several levels, including constitutional, statutory, regulatory and case law, as well as local ordinances. The Revised Code of Washington forms the general statutory law.
17-550: Washington Law or Washington law may refer to: Law of Washington [ edit ] Law of Washington (state) Law of Washington, D.C. Washington law schools [ edit ] University of Washington School of Law , Seattle, Washington Washington University School of Law , St. Louis, Missouri American University Washington College of Law , Washington, D.C. George Washington University Law School , Washington, D.C. [REDACTED] Index of articles associated with
34-409: A maximum of 90 days in jail and a $ 1,000 fine, or for a gross misdemeanor one year in jail and a $ 5,000 fine. Alternatively, a legislative body may make an offense a civil infraction, but no city or county may establish a civil penalty for an act that constitutes a crime under state law, nor may it establish a different criminal punishment than that provided by state law for the same act. The power of
51-516: A summary. Counties must provide advance notice of proposed police or sanitary regulations prior to adoption by the legislative body, and the notice may either set out a copy of the regulation or summarize its content. Washington State Code Reviser The Code Reviser is an official in the government of the United States State of Washington charged with harmonizing the laws of the state and advising legislators on questions of style in
68-577: Is interpreted by case law through the decisions of the Supreme Court and Court of Appeals, which are published in the Washington Reports and Washington Appellate Reports , respectively. Counties, cities, and towns may also promulgate local ordinances . The foremost source of state law is the Constitution of Washington . The Washington Constitution in turn is subordinate to the Constitution of
85-588: Is published by the Statute Law Committee, and the Washington Administrative Code is compiled and published under the authority of its Code Reviser. The legal system of Washington is based on the common law . Like all U.S. states except Louisiana , Washington has a reception statute providing for the "reception" of English law . All statutes, regulations, and ordinances are subject to judicial review . Pursuant to common law tradition,
102-708: Is the constitutional officer of the Supreme Court that prepares the decisions and opinions of the Supreme Court and the Court of Appeals for publication in the official court reports. Cases from Washington appellate courts are also reported in the unofficial Pacific Reporter . From 1854 to 1889, opinions of the territorial Supreme Court were published in the three volumes of the Washington Territory Reports . The legislative bodies of counties, cities, and towns may adopt ordinances, resolutions, rules, regulations, motions, and orders, violations of which are punishable by
119-724: Is the foremost source of state law. Legislation is enacted by the Washington State Legislature , published in the Laws of Washington , and codified in the Revised Code of Washington . State agency regulations (sometimes called administrative law) are published in the Washington State Register and codified in the Washington Administrative Code . Washington's legal system is based on common law , which
136-642: The Governor of Washington , a justice of the Washington Supreme Court (or an attorney appointed by the Chief Justice), and four professional staff members employed by the legislature. By law, the Code Reviser must be a lawyer; however, the functions of the office can also be delegated by the Statute Law Committee to a private legal publisher. The Code Reviser is authorized to make minor style revisions to
153-607: The Revised Code of Washington (RCW). The publication of the RCW was accompanied by the creation of the office of Code Reviser. The office of the Code Reviser is established in the Revised Code of Washington . They are appointed by the Statute Law Committee, which consists of four members of the legislature (two from each of the two largest political parties), an attorney appointed by the Washington State Bar, an attorney appointed by
170-507: The Washington State Code Reviser which it employs and supervises. Pursuant to certain statutes, state agencies have promulgated regulations , also known as administrative law . The Washington State Register (WSR) is a biweekly publication that includes notices of proposed and expedited rules, emergency and permanently adopted rules, public meetings, requests for public input, notices of rules review, executive orders of
187-468: The Governor, court rules, summary of attorney general opinions, juvenile disposition standards, and the state maximum interest rate. The Washington Administrative Code (WAC) codifies or compiles the regulations and arranges them by subject or agency, and is updated twice a month. There are also many agencies with quasi-judicial authority to hold hearings and make decisions. The Washington State Register
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#1733116218443204-540: The United States , which is the supreme law of the land. Pursuant to the state constitution, the Washington State Legislature has enacted legislation . Its session laws are published in the Laws of Washington , which in turn have been codified , compiled, and/or consolidated in the Revised Code of Washington (RCW). Both are published by the Washington State Statute Law Committee and
221-481: The courts of Washington have developed a large body of case law through the decisions of the Washington Supreme Court and Washington Court of Appeals . The decisions of the Supreme Court and Court of Appeals are published in the Washington Reports and Washington Appellate Reports , respectively. Both are published by LexisNexis , while slip opinions are published on the Internet. The Reporter of Decisions
238-455: The laws of Washington as they are enacted by the legislature (for example, changing the words "effective date of this act" to an actual calendar date), correct obvious errors in laws enacted by the legislature such as incorrect citations and references, number and publish the Revised Code of Washington, and provide bill drafting advice to members of the legislature. The Code Reviser also appoints
255-489: The preparation of bills. In the first half-century of statehood, there was no official compilation of the laws of the state. Two private publishers independently compiled and published statutes enacted by the Washington state legislature into bound volumes: Remington Revised Statutes and Pierce's Perpetual Code. In 1951 the legislature enacted a common numbering system for the state's laws and published an official codex known as
272-417: The public to initiate ordinances by petition and to have enacted ordinances referred to the voters are only available in first class cities, code cities, cities or towns organized under the commission plan of government, and home rule counties. All cities and towns are required to publish every ordinance in their official newspaper, although in lieu of publishing an entire ordinance a city or town may publish
289-605: The same name This set index article includes a list of related items that share the same name (or similar names). If an internal link incorrectly led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended article. Retrieved from " https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Washington_Law&oldid=1152520191 " Category : Set index articles Hidden categories: Articles with short description Short description with empty Wikidata description All set index articles Law of Washington (state) The Constitution of Washington
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