An agreement for long-term contracts between King County and suburban cities for district court services was approved by the Metropolitan King County Council on Monday.
State law allows cities to file cases in district court when they have no municipal court.
The county is then authorized to charge the city a filing fee for each case filed. Major obstacles concerning cost and continuity had to be negotiated in order to develop a new contract that was acceptable to both the county and the cities. The cities felt they were paying too much, and the county felt it wasn't getting enough revenue to cover costs. A negotiating team of attorneys, judges, county administrators and city officials developed a contract that stabilizes fees for the cities, while giving the county greater certainty of participation by having the cities sign three and five-year contracts. The cities also must give an 18-month notice to cancel.