IN THE COURT OF APPEALS OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON

DIVISION THREE

STATE OF WASHINGTON,

Petitioner,

v.

P.M.E.,

†

Respondent.

)

)

)

)

)

)

)

)

)

No. 37642-7-III

PUBLISHED OPINION

LAWRENCE-BERREY, J. — The question we answer today is whether juvenile court 

jurisdiction may be waived for any type of criminal charge. The answer requires us to 

construe RCW 13.40.110(1). That section, entitled “discretionary decline hearing,”

permits the prosecutor, the respondent, or the court to request that the respondent be 

transferred to adult court for prosecution. 

We conclude that RCW 13.40.110(1) permits a juvenile court to transfer a 

respondent to adult court for prosecution only if the charged offense is subject to a 

 

† Although P.M.E. (born in 2002) is no longer a minor, we use his initials 

throughout this opinion to protect his privacy interests. Gen. Order for Court of Appeals, 

In Re Changes to Case Title (Wash. Ct. App. Aug. 22, 2018) (effective September 1, 

2018), http://www.courts.wa.gov/appellate_trial_courts.

FILED

AUGUST 26, 2021

In the Office of the Clerk of Court

WA State Court of Appeals, Division III
No. 37642-7-III

State v. P.M.E.

2

decline hearing. We further conclude that a juvenile cannot waive juvenile court 

jurisdiction beyond what the legislature has permitted to be declined to adult court for 

prosecution. 

FACTS

In February 2020, the State charged 17-year-old P.M.E. with two counts 

of fourth degree assault, a gross misdemeanor. P.M.E. filed a motion to decline 

his case to adult jurisdiction. His reasons for doing so included his desire for a jury 

trial and the opportunity to vacate, rather than seal, his convictions. He argued that 

RCW 13.40.110(1) permits a juvenile court to decline jurisdiction over any criminal case 

provided the juvenile’s waiver is an express waiver intelligently made, as required by 

RCW 13.40.140(10). The State opposed the motion. It argued that RCW 13.40.110(1) 

permits a juvenile court to decline jurisdiction only in those cases where a decline hearing 

is required.

The matter was argued to the juvenile court. The court noted that clarity in the law 

was needed. It construed the subsection favorably to P.M.E. and granted his request to 

transfer prosecution of his fourth degree assault charges to adult court. In so doing, it 

concluded that juvenile court jurisdiction could be waived for offenses that did not 

require a decline hearing, P.M.E.’s fourth degree assault charges did not require a decline 
No. 37642-7-III

State v. P.M.E.

3

hearing, and declination of juvenile court jurisdiction was in P.M.E.’s best interests. The 

State requested reconsideration, and the trial court denied its request. 

The State timely sought discretionary review and a stay of the juvenile court’s 

order. A commissioner of this court granted the State’s motions. Comm’r’s Ruling,

No. 37642-7-III (Wash. Ct. App. Sept. 2, 2020). 

ANALYSIS

JUVENILE COURT AUTHORITY TO TRANSFER

Juvenile courts have exclusive original jurisdiction over juveniles alleged 

to have committed criminal offenses unless the court transfers the case to adult court 

pursuant to RCW 13.40.110.1 The State contends the juvenile court erred by construing 

RCW 13.40.110(1) as permitting waiver of juvenile court jurisdiction over cases that do 

not require a decline hearing. We agree. 

But before we consider the waiver issue, we first address whether a juvenile court 

has authority to transfer juveniles to adult criminal court without a decline hearing. We 

hold that juvenile courts do not.

Questions of statutory interpretation are reviewed de novo. State v. Bunker, 169 

Wn.2d 571, 577, 238 P.3d 487 (2010). “Our ‘paramount duty in statutory interpretation is 

 

1 See RCW 13.04.030(1)(e)(i).
No. 37642-7-III

State v. P.M.E.

4

to give effect to the Legislature’s intent.’” State v. Barnes, 189 Wn.2d 492, 495, 403 

P.3d 72 (2017) (quoting State v. Elgin, 118 Wn.2d 551, 555, 825 P.2d 314 (1992)). When 

interpreting a statute, we first look to its plain language. State v. Armendariz, 160 Wn.2d 

106, 110, 156 P.3d 201 (2007). Where statutory language is unambiguous, its meaning 

must be derived from the wording of the statute itself. State v. Ervin, 169 Wn.2d 815, 

820, 239 P.3d 354 (2010). The plain meaning of a statute may be discerned from all that 

the legislature has said in the statute and in related statutes that disclose legislative intent 

about the provision in question. Bunker, 169 Wn.2d at 578. We only resort to other 

interpretive aids when there is ambiguity. In re Dependency of D.L.B., 186 Wn.2d 103, 

116, 376 P.3d 1099 (2016). 

RCW 13.40.110 provides:

(1) Discretionary decline hearing—The prosecutor, respondent, or 

the court on its own motion may . . . file a motion requesting the court to 

transfer the respondent for adult criminal prosecution and the matter shall 

be set for a hearing on the question of declining jurisdiction only if:

(a) The respondent is, at the time of proceedings, at least fifteen 

years of age or older and is charged with a serious violent offense as 

defined in RCW 9.94A.030;

(b) The respondent is, at the time of proceedings, fourteen years 

of age or younger and is charged with murder in the first degree 

(RCW 9A.32.030), and/or murder in the second degree (RCW 9A.32.050);

or

(c) The respondent is any age and is charged with custodial assault, 

RCW 9A.36.100, and, at the time the respondent is charged, is already 

serving a minimum juvenile sentence to age twenty-one.
No. 37642-7-III

State v. P.M.E.

5

(2) Mandatory decline hearing—Unless waived by the court, the 

parties, and their counsel, a decline hearing shall be held when the 

information alleges an escape by the respondent and the respondent is 

serving a minimum juvenile sentence to age twenty-one.

(3) The court after a decline hearing may order the case transferred 

for adult criminal prosecution upon a finding that the declination would be 

in the best interest of the juvenile or the public. . . . 

(Emphasis added.) 

In isolation, section (1) is ambiguous because it can be reasonably construed two 

ways. P.M.E. argues it should be construed as permitting the “prosecutor, respondent, or 

the court” to file a motion requesting transfer to adult court, and that a decline hearing is 

required “only if” subsection (a), (b), or (c) is met. Under this construction, any criminal 

offense can be transferred to adult court.2 The State argues section (1) should be 

construed as permitting the “prosecutor, respondent, or the court” to file a motion to 

transfer to adult court “and” set a decline hearing “only if” subsection (a), (b), or (c) is 

 

2 P.M.E. conceded in his brief and again during oral argument that adopting his 

construction would permit not only juveniles, but juvenile courts and the State, to request 

transfer of any type of criminal offense to adult court for prosecution. We note that such 

a construction would increase rather than decrease the number of juveniles sent to adult 

court. This result runs counter to the legislature’s acknowledgement that transferring 

juveniles to adult court is ineffective in reducing criminal behavior. See LAWS OF 2019, 

ch. 322, § 1 (“The legislature acknowledges that transferring youth and young adults to 

the adult criminal justice system is not effective in reducing future criminal behavior. 

Youth and young adults incarcerated in the adult criminal justice system are more likely 

to recidivate than their counterparts housed in juvenile facilities.”). 
No. 37642-7-III

State v. P.M.E.

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met. Under this construction, only criminal offenses subject to a decline hearing can be 

transferred to adult court.

The rules of statutory construction set forth above require us to resolve ambiguities 

by considering related provisions. The ambiguity noted above is resolved when we 

consider section (3) of the statute. 

Section (3) conditions transfer to adult court on a decline hearing. And section (1) 

permits decline hearings “only if” subsection (a), (b), or (c) is met. For this reason, 

juvenile courts may not decline jurisdiction in favor of adult court unless subsection (a), 

(b), or (c) is met. We reject P.M.E.’s construction of the statute and adopt the State’s. 

We conclude that the lower court erred when it construed RCW 13.40.110(1) as allowing

it to transfer matters other than those described in subsections (a), (b), or (c).

WAIVER OF JUVENILE COURT JURISDICTION

P.M.E. argues he can waive his right to juvenile court jurisdiction and have his 

fourth degree assault charges tried in adult court. He relies on State v. Saenz, 175 Wn.2d 

167, 283 P.3d 1094 (2012). 

In Saenz, the court held that an adjudication of a juvenile accused of a criminal 

offense may not be moved from juvenile court to adult criminal court on the basis of the 

juvenile’s waiver of jurisdiction unless two things occur. First, the record must show that 
No. 37642-7-111 

State v. P.ME. 

the juvenile was fully informed of the consequences of waiver and the juvenile's waiver 

was made expressly and intelligently after being so informed. Id. at 17 4-75. "Second, 

after a decline hearing but before transferring a case to adult court, juvenile courts must 

enter findings in the record, including a finding that transfer to adult court is in the best 

interest of the juvenile or the public." Id. at 175. 

Here, the State charged P .M.E. with two gross misdemeanors, and a decline 

hearing is not permitted for gross misdemeanors. P .M.E. cannot satisfy the second step 

discussed in Saenz. We conclude that a juvenile may not waive juvenile court jurisdiction 

for matters not subject to a decline hearing. 

Reversed and remanded for adjudication by juvenile court. 

Lawrence-Berrey, J., 

j 

WE CONCUR: 

Fearing, J: > Staab, J. 

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