CERTIFICATION OF ENROLLMENT
ENGROSSED HOUSE BILL 1271
Chapter 122, Laws of 2021
67th Legislature
2021 Regular Session
COUNTY ELECTED OFFICIALS—VARIOUS PROVISIONS
EFFECTIVE DATE: July 25, 2021—Except for section 10, which becomes
effective July 1, 2022.
Passed by the House February 24, 2021 CERTIFICATE
Yeas 90 Nays 6
I, Bernard Dean, Chief Clerk of the
House of Representatives of the
LAURIE JINKINS State of Washington, do hereby
Speaker of the House of certify that the attached is
Representatives ENGROSSED HOUSE BILL 1271 as passed
by the House of Representatives and
the Senate on the dates hereon set
forth.
Passed by the Senate April 8, 2021
Yeas 47 Nays 2
BERNARD DEAN
DENNY HECK Chief Clerk
President of the Senate
Approved April 26, 2021 2:09 PM FILED
April 26, 2021
Secretary of State
JAY INSLEE State of Washington
Governor of the State of Washington
 ENGROSSED HOUSE BILL 1271
Passed Legislature - 2021 Regular Session
State of Washington 67th Legislature 2021 Regular Session
By Representatives Orwall, Goehner, Goodman, Thai, Fey, Pollet, and
Harris-Talley
Read first time 01/19/21. Referred to Committee on Local Government.
1 AN ACT Relating to ensuring continuity of operations in the
2 offices of county elected officials during the current COVID-19
3 pandemic and future public health crises; amending RCW 2.32.050,
4 84.41.041, 38.52.040, 70.54.430, 43.09.230, 65.04.140, 46.20.118,
5 6.21.030, 6.21.040, 6.21.050, 6.21.090, 6.21.100, and 84.56.020;
6 reenacting and amending RCW 6.01.060; creating a new section; and
7 providing an effective date.
8 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:
9 NEW SECTION. Sec. 1. The legislature finds that the ability of
10 county elected officials to fulfill their statutory responsibilities
11 through continued conduct of essential functions and services during
12 the current COVID-19 pandemic and potential future public health
13 crises requires updating, and at times temporary waiver, of these
14 requirements in statute. The legislature intends to update the manner
15 in which services may be provided; maintaining access and
16 opportunity. In addition, the legislature intends to clarify the
17 conditions under which waiver or suspension of specific statutes may
18 be assumed by county elected officials in order to eliminate
19 temporary barriers to continuity of operations.
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 1 Sec. 2. RCW 2.32.050 and 2017 c 183 s 1 are each amended to read
2 as follows:
3 The clerk of the supreme court, each clerk of the court of
4 appeals, and each clerk of a superior court, has power to take and
5 certify the proof and acknowledgment of a conveyance of real
6 property, or any other written instrument authorized or required to
7 be proved or acknowledged, and to administer oaths in every case when
8 authorized by law; and it is the duty of the clerk of the supreme
9 court, each clerk of the court of appeals, and of each county clerk
10 for each of the courts for which he or she is clerk:
11 (1) To keep the seal of the court and affix it in all cases where
12 he or she is required by law;
13 (2) To record the proceedings of the court;
14 (3) To keep the records, files, and other books and papers
15 appertaining to the court;
16 (4) To file all papers delivered to him or her for that purpose
17 in any action or proceeding in the court as directed by court rule or
18 statute;
19 (5) To attend, either in person or electronically if the
20 proceeding is virtual, the court of which he or she is clerk, to
21 administer oaths, and receive the verdict of a jury in any action or
22 proceeding therein, in the presence and under the direction of the
23 court;
24 (6) To keep the minutes of the proceedings of the court, and,
25 under the direction of the court, to enter its orders, judgments, and
26 decrees;
27 (7) To authenticate by certificate or transcript, as may be
28 required, the records, files, or proceedings of the court, or any
29 other paper appertaining thereto and filed with him or her;
30 (8) To exercise the powers and perform the duties conferred and
31 imposed upon him or her elsewhere by statute;
32 (9) In the performance of his or her duties to conform to the
33 direction of the court;
34 (10) To publish notice of the procedures for inspection of the
35 public records of the court.
36 Sec. 3. RCW 84.41.041 and 2017 c 323 s 507 are each amended to
37 read as follows:
38 (1) Each county assessor must cause taxable real property ((to be
39 physically inspected)) characteristics to be reviewed in accordance
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 1 with international association of assessing officers standards for
2 physical inspection and valued at least once every six years in
3 accordance with RCW 84.41.030, and in accordance with a plan filed
4 with and approved by the department of revenue. Such revaluation plan
5 must provide that all taxable real property within a county must be
6 revalued and these newly determined values placed on the assessment
7 rolls each year. Property must be valued at one hundred percent of
8 its true and fair value and assessed on the same basis, in accordance
9 with RCW 84.40.030, unless specifically provided otherwise by law.
10 During the intervals between each physical inspection of real
11 property, the valuation of such property must be adjusted to its
12 current true and fair value, such adjustments to be made once each
13 year and to be based upon appropriate statistical data.
14 (2) The assessor may require property owners to submit pertinent
15 data respecting taxable property in their control including data
16 respecting any sale or purchase of said property within the past five
17 years, the cost and characteristics of any improvement on the
18 property and other facts necessary for appraisal of the property.
19 Sec. 4. RCW 38.52.040 and 2019 c 333 s 9 are each amended to
20 read as follows:
21 (1) There is hereby created the emergency management council
22 (hereinafter called the council), to consist of not more than
23 ((eighteen)) 21 members who shall be appointed by the adjutant
24 general. The membership of the council shall include, but not be
25 limited to, representatives of city and county governments, sheriffs
26 and police chiefs, county coroners and medical examiners, the
27 Washington state patrol, the military department, the department of
28 ecology, state and local fire chiefs, seismic safety experts, state
29 and local emergency management directors, search and rescue
30 volunteers, medical professions who have expertise in emergency
31 medical care, building officials, private industry, and the office of
32 the superintendent of public instruction. The representatives of
33 private industry shall include persons knowledgeable in emergency and
34 hazardous materials management. The councilmembers shall elect a
35 chair from within the council membership. The members of the council
36 shall serve without compensation, but may be reimbursed for their
37 travel expenses incurred in the performance of their duties in
38 accordance with RCW 43.03.050 and 43.03.060 as now existing or
39 hereafter amended.
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 1 (2) The emergency management council shall advise the governor
2 and the director on all matters pertaining to state and local
3 emergency management. The council may appoint such ad hoc committees,
4 subcommittees, and working groups as are required to develop specific
5 recommendations for the improvement of emergency management
6 practices, standards, policies, or procedures. The council shall
7 ensure that the governor receives an annual assessment of statewide
8 emergency preparedness including, but not limited to, specific
9 progress on hazard mitigation and reduction efforts, implementation
10 of seismic safety improvements, reduction of flood hazards, and
11 coordination of hazardous materials planning and response activities.
12 The council shall review administrative rules governing state and
13 local emergency management practices and recommend necessary
14 revisions to the director.
15 (3) The council or a council subcommittee shall serve and
16 periodically convene in special session as the state emergency
17 response commission required by the emergency planning and community
18 right-to-know act (42 U.S.C. Sec. 11001 et seq.). The state emergency
19 response commission shall conduct those activities specified in
20 federal statutes and regulations and state administrative rules
21 governing the coordination of hazardous materials policy including,
22 but not limited to, review of local emergency planning committee
23 emergency response plans for compliance with the planning
24 requirements in the emergency planning and community right-to-know
25 act (42 U.S.C. Sec. 11001 et seq.). Committees shall annually review
26 their plans to address changed conditions, and submit their plans to
27 the state emergency response commission for review when updated, but
28 not less than at least once every five years. The department may
29 employ staff to assist local emergency planning committees in the
30 development and annual review of these emergency response plans, with
31 an initial focus on the highest risk communities through which trains
32 that transport oil in bulk travel. By March 1, 2018, the department
33 shall report to the governor and legislature on progress towards
34 compliance with planning requirements. The report must also provide
35 budget and policy recommendations for continued support of local
36 emergency planning.
37 (4)(a) The intrastate mutual aid committee is created and is a
38 subcommittee of the emergency management council. The intrastate
39 mutual aid committee consists of not more than five members who must
40 be appointed by the council chair from council membership. The chair
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 1 of the intrastate mutual aid committee is the military department
2 representative appointed as a member of the council. Meetings of the
3 intrastate mutual aid committee must be held at least annually.
4 (b) In support of the intrastate mutual aid system established in
5 chapter 38.56 RCW, the intrastate mutual aid committee shall develop
6 and update guidelines and procedures to facilitate implementation of
7 the intrastate mutual aid system by member jurisdictions, including
8 but not limited to the following: Projected or anticipated costs;
9 checklists and forms for requesting and providing assistance;
10 recordkeeping; reimbursement procedures; and other implementation
11 issues. These guidelines and procedures are not subject to the rule-
12 making requirements of chapter 34.05 RCW.
13 (5) On emergency management issues that involve early learning,
14 kindergarten through twelfth grade, or higher education, the
15 emergency management council must consult with representatives from
16 the following organizations: The department of children, youth, and
17 families; the office of the superintendent of public instruction; the
18 state board for community and technical colleges; and an association
19 of public baccalaureate degree-granting institutions.
20 Sec. 5. RCW 70.54.430 and 2015 c 30 s 1 are each amended to read
21 as follows:
22 (1) When requested by first responders during an emergency,
23 employees of companies providing personal emergency response services
24 must provide to first responders the name, address, and any other
25 information necessary for first responders to contact subscribers
26 within the jurisdiction of the emergency.
27 (2) Companies providing personal emergency response services may
28 adopt policies to respond to requests from first responders to
29 release subscriber contact information during an emergency. Policies
30 may include procedures to:
31 (a) Verify that the requester is a first responder;
32 (b) Verify that the request is made pursuant to an emergency;
33 (c) Fulfill the request by providing the subscriber contact
34 information; and
35 (d) Deny the request if no emergency exists or if the requester
36 is not a first responder.
37 (3) Information received by a first responder under subsection
38 (1) of this section is confidential and exempt from disclosure under
39 chapter 42.56 RCW, and may be used only in responding to the
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 1 emergency that prompted the request for information. Any first
2 responder receiving the information must destroy it at the end of the
3 emergency.
4 (4) It is not a violation of this section if a personal emergency
5 response services company or an employee makes a good faith effort to
6 comply with this section. In addition, the company or employee is
7 immune from civil liability for a good faith effort to comply with
8 this section. Should a company or employee prevail upon the defense
9 provided in this section, the company or employee is entitled to
10 recover expenses and reasonable attorneys' fees incurred in
11 establishing the defense.
12 (5) First responders and their employing jurisdictions are not
13 liable for failing to request the information in subsection (1) of
14 this section. In addition, chapter 30, Laws of 2015 does not create a
15 private right of action nor does it create any civil liability on the
16 part of the state or any of its subdivisions, including first
17 responders.
18 (6) For the purposes of this section:
19 (a) "Emergency" means an occurrence that renders the personal
20 emergency response services system inoperable for a period of twenty-
21 four or more continuous hours, and that requires the attention of
22 first responders acting within the scope of their official duties.
23 (b) "First responder" means firefighters, law enforcement
24 officers, coroners and medical examiners, and emergency medical
25 personnel, as licensed or certificated by this state.
26 (c) "Personal emergency response services" means a service
27 provided for profit that allows persons in need of emergency
28 assistance to contact a call center by activating a wearable device,
29 such as a pendant or bracelet.
30 (7) This section does not require a personal emergency response
31 services company to:
32 (a) Provide first responders with subscriber contact information
33 in nonemergency situations; or
34 (b) Provide subscriber contact information to entities other than
35 first responders.
36 Sec. 6. RCW 43.09.230 and 2020 c 179 s 1 are each amended to
37 read as follows:
38 (1) As used in this section:
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 1 (a) "Special purpose district" means every municipal and quasi-
2 municipal corporation other than counties, cities, and towns. Such
3 special purpose districts include, but are not limited to, water-
4 sewer districts, fire protection districts, port districts, public
5 utility districts, special districts as defined in RCW 85.38.010,
6 lake and beach management districts, conservation districts, and
7 irrigation districts.
8 (b) "Unauditable" means a special purpose district that the state
9 auditor has determined to be incapable of being audited because the
10 special purpose district has improperly maintained, failed to
11 maintain, or failed to submit adequate accounts, records, files, or
12 reports for an audit to be completed.
13 (2) The state auditor shall require from every local government
14 financial reports covering the full period of each fiscal year, in
15 accordance with the forms and methods prescribed by the state
16 auditor, which shall be uniform for all accounts of the same class.
17 Such reports shall be prepared, certified, and filed with the
18 state auditor within one hundred fifty days after the close of each
19 fiscal year. The state auditor may allow local governments a thirty-
20 day extension for filing annual fiscal reports if the governor has
21 declared an emergency pursuant to RCW 43.06.210.
22 The reports shall contain accurate statements, in summarized
23 form, of all collections made, or receipts received, by the officers
24 from all sources; all accounts due the public treasury, but not
25 collected; and all expenditures for every purpose, and by what
26 authority authorized; and also: (a) A statement of all costs of
27 ownership and operation, and of all income, of each and every public
28 service industry owned and operated by a local government; (b) a
29 statement of the entire public debt of every local government, to
30 whi