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Auditors back bill to let elected officials take oath earlier after certification
Summary
House Bill 1573 would allow elected county, city and special‑district officials to take the oath of office between the date their election is certified and the day before their term starts; Thurston County auditor told the committee the change would let localities avoid scheduling swearing‑ins during winter holidays.
House Bill 1573 would change the time window during which elected officials for counties, cities, towns and specified special purpose districts may take the oath of office. Under current law the oath must occur up to 10 days before the scheduled start of the term or at the last regular meeting of the governing body; HB 1573 extends the first period so the oath may be taken any time between certification and the day before the term begins.
Desiree Omley of the Office of Program Research provided the staff briefing for the committee and explained the technical change to the oath window and the practical effect for officials whose terms begin on January 1. Representative Vicki Parsley (sponsor) described the bill as a short, administrative fix asked for by county auditors to avoid holding swearing‑in events during the winter holidays. “This is gonna allow the counties a lot more freedom to be able to do the swearing in and allow the candidates who just got off a campaign and getting ready to start their office, an opportunity to do swearing in at the next meeting after this certification,” Parsley said.
Mary Hall, Thurston County auditor, testified in strong support on behalf of the County Auditors Association. Hall said many term starts currently fall near Christmas and New Year's and that local certification ceremonies could be combined with public swearing‑in events if the timing is adjusted: “We host an annual swearing in ceremony that is a very well attended community event, and being able to have this ceremony right around the time we certify the election would do a couple things. It would really allow us to highlight what a certification meeting to certify a general election is like.”
Auditors told the committee the change would reduce scheduling pressure on small staffs and better align public ceremonies with certification. The committee took no formal action during the hearing; supporters urged the committee to move the bill forward as a routine administrative improvement.
