Title 42 — Title 42 PUBLIC OFFICERS AND AGENCIES
20 chapters · 471 sections in this title.
RCW 42.26.900 Effective date—1969 ex.s. c 60.
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This chapter shall take effect July 1, 1969.[ 1969 ex.s. c 60 s 12.]
RCW 42.30.010 Legislative declaration.
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The legislature finds and declares that all public commissions, boards, councils, committees, subcommittees, departments, divisions, offices, and all other public agencies of this state and subdivisions thereof exist to aid in the conduct of the people's business. It is the inten…
RCW 42.30.020 Definitions.
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As used in this chapter unless the context indicates otherwise:(1) "Public agency" means:(a) Any state board, commission, committee, department, educational institution, or other state agency which is created by or pursuant to statute, other than courts and the legislature. This …
RCW 42.30.030 Meetings declared open and public.
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(1) All meetings of the governing body of a public agency shall be open and public and all persons shall be permitted to attend any meeting of the governing body of a public agency, except as otherwise provided in this chapter.(2) Public agencies are encouraged to provide for the…
RCW 42.30.035 Minutes—Recording of school district board of directors meetings.
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(1) The minutes of all regular and special meetings except executive sessions of such boards, commissions, agencies or authorities shall be promptly recorded and such records shall be open to public inspection.(2) Except in the case of an emergency as provided for in RCW 42.30.07…
RCW 42.30.040 Conditions to attendance not to be required.
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A member of the public shall not be required, as a condition to attendance at a meeting of a governing body, to register his or her name and other information, to complete a questionnaire, or otherwise to fulfill any condition precedent to his or her attendance. This section does…
RCW 42.30.050 Interruptions—Procedure.
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In the event that any meeting is interrupted by a group or groups of persons so as to render the orderly conduct of such meeting unfeasible and order cannot be restored by the removal of individuals who are interrupting the meeting, the members of the governing body conducting th…
RCW 42.30.060 Ordinances, rules, resolutions, regulations, etc., adopted at public meetings—Notice—Secret voting prohibited.
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(1) No governing body of a public agency shall adopt any ordinance, resolution, rule, regulation, order, or directive, except in a meeting open to the public and then only at a meeting, the date of which is fixed by law or rule, or at a meeting of which notice has been given acco…
RCW 42.30.070 Times and places for meetings—Emergencies—Exception.
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The governing body of a public agency shall provide the time for holding regular meetings by ordinance, resolution, bylaws, or by whatever other rule is required for the conduct of business by that body. Unless otherwise provided for in the act under which the public agency was f…
RCW 42.30.075 Schedule of regular meetings—Publication in state register—Notice of change—"Regular" meetings defined.
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State agencies which hold regular meetings shall file with the code reviser a schedule of the time and place of such meetings on or before January of each year for publication in the Washington state register. Notice of any change from such meeting schedule shall be published in …
RCW 42.30.077 Agendas of regular meetings—Online availability.
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(1) Public agencies with governing bodies must make the agenda of each regular meeting of the governing body available online no later than 24 hours in advance of the published start time of the meeting. An agency subject to provisions of this section may share a website with, or…
RCW 42.30.080 Special meetings.
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(1) A special meeting may be called at any time by the presiding officer of the governing body of a public agency or by a majority of the members of the governing body by delivering written notice personally, by mail, by fax, or by email to each member of the governing body. Writ…
RCW 42.30.090 Adjournments.
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The governing body of a public agency may adjourn any regular, adjourned regular, special, or adjourned special meeting to a time and place specified in the order of adjournment. Less than a quorum may so adjourn from time to time. If all members are absent from any regular or ad…
RCW 42.30.100 Continuances.
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Any hearing being held, noticed, or ordered to be held by a governing body at any meeting may by order or notice of continuance be continued or recontinued to any subsequent meeting of the governing body in the same manner and to the same extent set forth in RCW 42.30.090 for the…
RCW 42.30.110 Executive sessions.
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(1) Nothing contained in this chapter may be construed to prevent a governing body from holding an executive session during a regular or special meeting:(a)(i) To consider matters affecting national security;(ii) To consider, if in compliance with any required data security breac…
RCW 42.30.120 Violations—Personal liability—Civil penalty—Attorneys' fees and costs.
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(1) Each member of the governing body who attends a meeting of such governing body where action is taken in violation of any provision of this chapter applicable to him or her, with knowledge of the fact that the meeting is in violation thereof, shall be subject to personal liabi…
RCW 42.30.130 Violations—Mandamus or injunction.
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Any person may commence an action either by mandamus or injunction for the purpose of stopping violations or preventing threatened violations of this chapter by members of a governing body.[ 1971 ex.s. c 250 s 13.]
RCW 42.30.140 Chapter controlling—Application.
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*** CHANGE IN 2026 *** (SEE 2496-S.SL) ***If any provision of this chapter conflicts with the provisions of any other statute, the provisions of this chapter shall control: PROVIDED, That this chapter shall not apply to:(1) The proceedings concerned with the formal issuance of an…
RCW 42.30.200 Governing body of recognized student association at college or university—Chapter applicability to.
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The multimember student board which is the governing body of the recognized student association at a given campus of a public institution of higher education is hereby declared to be subject to the provisions of the open public meetings act as contained in this chapter, as now or…
RCW 42.30.205 Training.
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(1) Every member of the governing body of a public agency must complete training on the requirements of this chapter no later than ninety days after the date the member either:(a) Takes the oath of office, if the member is required to take an oath of office to assume his or her d…
RCW 42.30.210 Assistance by attorney general.
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The attorney general's office may provide information, technical assistance, and training on the provisions of this chapter.[ 2001 c 216 s 2.]
RCW 42.30.220 Recording or online streaming by agency encouraged.
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(1) Public agencies are encouraged to make an audio or video recording of, or to provide an online streaming option for, all regular meetings of its governing body, and to make recordings of these meetings available online for a minimum of six months.(2) This section does not alt…
RCW 42.30.230 Declared emergencies—Remote meeting—Limits on physical attendance.
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(1) If, after the declaration of an emergency by a local or state government or agency, or by the federal government, a public agency determines that it cannot hold a meeting of the governing body with members or public attendance in person with reasonable safety because of the e…
RCW 42.30.240 Public comment.
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(1) Except in an emergency situation, the governing body of a public agency shall provide an opportunity at or before every regular meeting at which final action is taken for public comment. The public comment required under this section may be taken orally at a public meeting, o…
RCW 42.30.250 Notices soliciting public comment—Time period.
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(1) A public agency that is required by state law to solicit public comment for a statutorily specified period of time, and is required by state law to provide notice that it is soliciting public comment, must specify the first and last date and time by which written public comme…
RCW 42.30.900 Short title.
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This chapter may be known and cited as the Washington state open public meetings act or OPMA.[ 2022 c 115 s 14; 1971 ex.s. c 250 s 16.]Notes:Findings—Intent—2022 c 115: See note following RCW 42.30.230.
RCW 42.30.910 Construction—1971 ex.s. c 250.
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The purposes of this chapter are hereby declared remedial and shall be liberally construed.[ 1971 ex.s. c 250 s 18.]
RCW 42.36.010 Local land use decisions.
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Application of the appearance of fairness doctrine to local land use decisions shall be limited to the quasi-judicial actions of local decision-making bodies as defined in this section. Quasi-judicial actions of local decision-making bodies are those actions of the legislative bo…
RCW 42.36.020 Members of local decision-making bodies.
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No member of a local decision-making body may be disqualified by the appearance of fairness doctrine for conducting the business of his or her office with any constituent on any matter other than a quasi-judicial action then pending before the local legislative body.[ 1982 c 229 …
RCW 42.36.030 Legislative action of local executive or legislative officials.
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No legislative action taken by a local legislative body, its members, or local executive officials shall be invalidated by an application of the appearance of fairness doctrine.[ 1982 c 229 s 3.]
RCW 42.36.040 Public discussion by candidate for public office.
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Prior to declaring as a candidate for public office or while campaigning for public office as defined by RCW 42.17A.005 no public discussion or expression of an opinion by a person subsequently elected to a public office, on any pending or proposed quasi-judicial actions, shall b…
RCW 42.36.050 Campaign contributions.
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A candidate for public office who complies with all provisions of applicable public disclosure and ethics laws shall not be limited from accepting campaign contributions to finance the campaign, including outstanding debts; nor shall it be a violation of the appearance of fairnes…
RCW 42.36.060 Quasi-judicial proceedings—Ex parte communications prohibited, exceptions.
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During the pendency of any quasi-judicial proceeding, no member of a decision-making body may engage in ex parte communications with opponents or proponents with respect to the proposal which is the subject of the proceeding unless that person:(1) Places on the record the substan…
RCW 42.36.070 Quasi-judicial proceedings—Prior advisory proceedings.
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Participation by a member of a decision-making body in earlier proceedings that result in an advisory recommendation to a decision-making body shall not disqualify that person from participating in any subsequent quasi-judicial proceeding.[ 1982 c 229 s 7.]
RCW 42.36.080 Disqualification based on doctrine—Time limitation for raising challenge.
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Anyone seeking to rely on the appearance of fairness doctrine to disqualify a member of a decision-making body from participating in a decision must raise the challenge as soon as the basis for disqualification is made known to the individual. Where the basis is known or should r…
RCW 42.36.090 Participation of challenged member of decision-making body.
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In the event of a challenge to a member or members of a decision-making body which would cause a lack of a quorum or would result in a failure to obtain a majority vote as required by law, any such challenged member(s) shall be permitted to fully participate in the proceeding and…
RCW 42.36.100 Judicial restriction of doctrine not prohibited—Construction of chapter.
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Nothing in this chapter prohibits the restriction or elimination of the appearance of fairness doctrine by the appellate courts. Nothing in this chapter may be construed to expand the appearance of fairness doctrine.[ 1982 c 229 s 10.]
RCW 42.36.110 Right to fair hearing not impaired.
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Nothing in this chapter prohibits challenges to local land use decisions where actual violations of an individual's right to a fair hearing can be demonstrated.[ 1982 c 229 s 11.]
RCW 42.40.010 Policy.
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It is the policy of the legislature that employees should be encouraged to disclose, to the extent not expressly prohibited by law, improper governmental actions, and it is the intent of the legislature to protect the rights of state employees making these disclosures, regardless…
RCW 42.40.020 Definitions.
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As used in this chapter, the terms defined in this section shall have the meanings indicated unless the context clearly requires otherwise.(1) "Auditor" means the office of the state auditor.(2) "Employee" means any individual employed or holding office in any department or agenc…
RCW 42.40.030 Right to disclose improper governmental actions—Interference prohibited.
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(1) An employee shall not directly or indirectly use or attempt to use the employee's official authority or influence for the purpose of intimidating, threatening, coercing, commanding, influencing, or attempting to intimidate, threaten, coerce, command, or influence any individu…
RCW 42.40.035 Duty of correctness—Penalties for false information.
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An employee must make a reasonable attempt to ascertain the correctness of the information furnished and may be subject to disciplinary actions, including, but not limited to, suspension or termination, for knowingly furnishing false information as determined by the employee's ap…
RCW 42.40.040 Report of improper governmental action—Investigations and reports by auditor, agency.
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(1)(a) In order to be investigated, an assertion of improper governmental action must be provided to the auditor or other public official within one year after the occurrence of the asserted improper governmental action. The public official, as defined in RCW 42.40.020, receiving…
RCW 42.40.050 Retaliatory action against whistleblower—Remedies.
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(1)(a) Any person who is a whistleblower, as defined in RCW 42.40.020, and who has been subjected to workplace reprisal or retaliatory action is presumed to have established a cause of action for the remedies provided under chapter 49.60 RCW.(b) For the purpose of this section, "…
RCW 42.40.070 Summary of chapter available to employees.
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A written summary of this chapter and procedures for reporting improper governmental actions established by the auditor's office shall be made available by each department or agency of state government to each employee upon entering public employment. Such notices may be in agenc…
RCW 42.40.080 Contracting for assistance.
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The auditor has the authority to contract for any assistance necessary to carry out the provisions of this chapter.[ 1999 c 361 s 4.]
RCW 42.40.090 Administrative costs.
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The cost of administering this chapter is funded through the auditing services revolving account created in RCW 43.09.410.[ 1999 c 361 s 5.]
RCW 42.40.100 Assertions against auditor.
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A whistleblower wishing to provide information under this chapter regarding asserted improper governmental action against the state auditor or an employee of that office shall provide the information to the attorney general who shall act in place of the auditor in investigating a…
RCW 42.40.110 Performance audit.
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The office of financial management shall contract for a performance audit of the state employee whistleblower program on a cycle to be determined by the office of financial management. The audit shall be done in accordance with generally accepted government auditing standards beg…
RCW 42.40.910 Application of chapter.
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Chapter 266, Laws of 2008 and chapter 361, Laws of 1999 do not affect the jurisdiction of the legislative ethics board, the executive ethics board, or the commission on judicial conduct, as set forth in chapter 42.52 RCW. The senate, the house of representatives, and the supreme …