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Lacey staff to finalize interlocal agreement to shift violations bureau filings to Thurston County District Court
Summary
City staff told the Lacey City Council on July 22 that they plan to finalize an interlocal amendment to transfer Violations Bureau filings (mostly traffic and parking citations) to Thurston County District Court, with an estimated starting annual cost of about $74,000.
Christie Wolf, the City of Lacey's Financial Services Manager, presented a proposed amendment to an interlocal agreement that would transfer Violations Bureau functions to Thurston County District Court.
Wolf said the current structure requires city utility-billing staff to manage violations, but the work is increasingly misaligned with utility billing's core customer-service functions. Under the proposed arrangement the county would process and adjudicate Lacey-originating violations, an estimated increase of about 1,000 filings per year. Wolf said the annual cost to the city is expected to begin at roughly $74,000 if the transfer starts Oct. 1, 2025; remaining 2025 costs were estimated at $32,000 to migrate existing cases.
Councilmembers asked what types of filings are included; Wolf said most filings are traffic citations, some parking citations, and some joint animal services citations. Wolf explained the county charges on a per-file basis and that the current county contract figure is $77 per file; she said the city will continue to receive the city's statutory share of fines and that state entities also receive portions of some fines.
Councilmembers asked whether utility billing employees are represented by a bargaining unit and whether the union had been consulted; Wolf said the human resources department had apprised the union and that Leilani (HR staff) had led outreach. Wolf said there are no plans to reduce staffing due to the transfer and that moving violations administration should allow utility billing staff to focus on core work.
Wolf recommended staff finalize an amendment and bring it to council for authorization at a future meeting. Council discussion raised questions about arrears and the stage of outstanding cases; staff said tickets and cases exist at various stages and they could provide more detailed counts later.
Ending: Staff will finalize the interlocal agreement amendment for council consideration; no final action was taken at the work session.
