State Supreme Court rules that cities can share court services

OLYMPIA — Cities that don't want their own municipal courts can arrange for another city's judges to handle the cases, a divided state Supreme Court ruled Thursday in a case involving Kirkland Municipal Court.

In a 6-3 ruling, the court said Medina, Clyde Hill and Yarrow Point — along with more than a dozen towns and cities — were allowed to have municipal-law cases decided through another city's court.

Two justices who agreed the practice was legal — Chief Justice Gerry Alexander and Justice Bobbe Bridge — took the unusual step of asking the Legislature to get rid of the arrangement.

Although Thursday's case involved four neighboring cities, nothing in state law prevents a town from contracting its court services to a city many miles away, Alexander wrote.

That could save money, but "does not, in my view, serve the public well and, in effect, taxes a portion of the public in order to achieve any cost savings," wrote Alexander, accompanied by Bridge.

The three defendants in the case brought before the state's high court argued that Kirkland Municipal Court didn't have legal jurisdiction to hear cases from nearby Medina, Clyde Hill or Yarrow Point.

Shared bench services

The state Supreme Court says at least 18 local governments in Washington state operate their municipal courts out of another city's courthouse. Listed here are the cities in the Puget Sound region that handle municipal court services for another local government, followed by the towns and cities they cover:

Auburn: Algona

Enumclaw: Maple Valley

Kirkland: Medina, Clyde Hill, Yarrow Point, Hunts Point

Marysville: Arlington, Lake Stevens

Mercer Island: Newcastle

Source: Washington state

Supreme Court

But the Supreme Court shot down that argument, saying the Legislature gave cities and towns the power to delegate their court services to another local government.

The three suburban cities technically created their own city courts, but those bodies are run by Kirkland's courthouse, with Kirkland's municipal judges acting as the smaller cities' judges.

The Legislature allows such "interlocal" arrangements, which let government bodies contract with each other for any government service, Justice Barbara Madsen wrote for the majority.

The court's dissenters — Justices Richard Sanders, Susan Owens and Jim Johnson — disagreed, saying the state law didn't specifically apply to legal jurisdiction.

"A municipality cannot 'create' a municipal court by fiat," Sanders wrote for the minority.

The case on appeal involved Melody F. Primm, 49, of Shoreline, who was cited by the Medina Police Department in September 2002 and charged with driving under the influence, according to court records.

The charge was later amended and she was found guilty of reckless driving in October 2003 and was sentenced to 365 days in jail, which was suspended, and fined $5,000, of which $4,800 was suspended, on the condition that she meet several sentencing terms.

Primm appealed the conviction, and in 2004 the case was consolidated before the state Supreme Court with two other cases from Yarrow Point and Clyde Hill. Those cities, and Hunts Point, contract with Kirkland to conduct their court matters.

Kirkland City Manager Dave Ramsay said the city had been paying close attention to the appeal and is pleased with the decision.

"We believe we have an outstanding court," he said. "It's a win-win for everyone."

Ramsay said the city had worked with the Association of Washington Cities in the Legislature this year to try to clarify the interlocal contracting situation, seeking specific authorization for such agreements, but the Legislature didn't take action on the measure, so the appeals decision also was pleasing from that standpoint, in that it upheld the validity of the agreements.

Seattle Times Eastside bureau reporter Peyton Whitely and The Associated Press contributed to this story.