At a special Franklin County Board of Commissioners meeting on Dec. 19, the board voted to instruct the county Prosecuting Attorney's (PA) office to prepare counter litigation after the board was told Benton County had filed suit against Franklin County that day.

The motion, made by an attending commissioner and seconded, was introduced after the board returned from a closed executive session on potential litigation. "I move that this board instruct our PA's office to prepare counter litigation upon receipt of the litigation that the Benton County Board Of Commissioners initiated against Franklin County today," the mover said. The board voted in favor with affirmative votes recorded as "aye." The transcript does not record any opposing votes, abstentions or roll-call names for the tally.

The motion was presented immediately after a period in which the board met in executive session under a cited state statute (a subsection of the Revised Code of Washington, cited in the transcript as "42.3 0.11 subsection I sub sub, or 1 sub sub I" and later referenced generically as "RCW"). The board reported coming out of executive session twice and explicitly noted that no final decisions were made during the closed sessions.

The county did not provide details in the meeting about the nature of the litigation Benton County filed or the timetable for filing a counterclaim; the motion instructs the PA's office to prepare counter litigation "upon receipt of the litigation." No additional documents or case numbers were discussed on the record during the meeting.

What happens next: the board's instruction directs Franklin County's PA office to begin drafting a response once the county receives the formal complaint from Benton County. The meeting record does not indicate expected filing dates, legal strategy, or whether the board will authorize funding or outside counsel for the response.

The board moved on after the vote to other business, including a separate contract approval for transportation services tied to Martin Hall juvenile agreements. The meeting then adjourned.