Committee hears cleanup bill to remove statutory vacancy method for county commissioners in favor of constitutional appointment process

The Local Government Committee reviewed Senate Bill 5288 on Wednesday, which would repeal statutory procedures for filling vacancies on boards of county commissioners and rely solely on the constitutional appointment method in Article II, Section 15 of the state constitution.

Committee staff described the two existing approaches: the constitutional method requires the county legislative authority to appoint an appointee from the same political party as the outgoing commissioner and from a list of three nominees submitted by the party’s county central committee; if county commissioners cannot agree on an appointee within 60 days, the governor selects from the same list. A separate statutory method creates a different appointment sequence depending on whether a board has three or five members (governor appointments until a quorum, then commissioners appoint remaining seats under specific timelines).

Paul Jewell of the Washington State Association of Counties and Whitman County Commissioner Art Swannack testified in support of SB 5288, calling it a cleanup measure. Jewell said that, in practice, counties follow the constitutional method and that removing the overlapping statutory method would eliminate recurring confusion when vacancies arise. Commissioner Swannack described a recent Whitman County vacancy that required consultation with county legal counsel to determine which process applied.

Supporters asked the committee to move the bill forward as a simplification of existing law; no opponents were recorded in the hearing. The committee did not take a vote on the bill during the hearing.