wa-law.org > bill > 2025-26 > HB 2263 > Original Bill
The legislature finds that:
Local governments across Washington employ hundreds of public attorneys in-house yet continue to spend millions of taxpayer dollars annually on private law firms and vendors.
In King county alone, between 2000 and 2025, over $56,000,000 was paid to more than 600 private law firms, approximately 78 percent of all outside counsel expenditures, creating structural conflicts that prevent residents from obtaining conflict-free legal representation against those same public entities.
This practice undermines public trust, limits access to justice, and diverts funds from essential services.
The legislature, therefore, declares that legal services for public agencies are a public function that must be performed by public counsel, not private vendors.
It is the intent of this act to restore transparency, protect taxpayer funds, and ensure that the private legal marketplace remains free to serve the public without government monopolization.
The definitions in this section apply throughout this chapter unless the context clearly requires otherwise.
"Legal services" include representation, advice, consultation, drafting, negotiation, litigation, discovery management, or any service customarily performed by a licensed attorney.
"Local public entity" means any county, city, town, school district, special purpose district, or any other municipal corporation or political subdivision of the state.
"Outside counsel" means any private attorney, law firm, partnership, corporation, or other business entity that provides legal services for compensation and is not an employee of a local public entity.
"Public counsel" means attorneys employed by or under the direct supervision of a local public entity, or attorneys employed through an interlocal agreement between local public entities under chapter 39.34 RCW.
A local public entity may not enter into any contract, agreement, or memorandum of understanding for the procurement of legal services from outside counsel.
All legal representation, advice, and related services for a local public entity must be provided exclusively by public counsel.
A local public entity requiring additional or specialized legal services capacity may enter an interlocal agreement under chapter 39.34 RCW with another local public entity to obtain legal services from the entity's public counsel.
No portion of any payment made under the interlocal agreement may be used to compensate any private attorney or law firm.
The attorney general shall maintain a roster of public counsel available for temporary interlocal assignment to assist local public entities lacking internal capacity to address their legal services needs.
The attorney general shall facilitate coordination among local public entities to ensure coverage of specialized practice areas.
Any payment of public funds by a local public entity to outside counsel, directly or indirectly, is void and constitutes an unauthorized expenditure under RCW 43.09.210.
An officer or employee of a local public entity who authorizes or approves such payments is personally liable for restitution of payment amounts to the public treasury.
A local public entity may not use grant funds, insurance pools, or third-party reimbursements to circumvent the prohibition in this section.
All contracts between a local public entity and outside counsel existing on the effective date of this section must terminate within 90 days after the effective date of this section and may not be renewed or extended.
Each local public entity shall submit to the state auditor a quarterly report of all legal expenditures, including salaries, payments for legal services under an interlocal agreement, and litigation costs.
The state auditor shall publish a searchable public database of all local public entity legal expenditures by category and entity.
Any resident or taxpayer of the state may bring an action in superior court against a local public entity to enjoin violations of this act.
The court shall award reasonable attorneys' fees and costs to a prevailing plaintiff, payable from the responsible local public entity's administrative budget and not from the local public entity's general fund.
The attorney general shall investigate violations of this act and may impose civil penalties not exceeding three times the improper payment amount against a local public entity found in violation of this act.
A local public entity may petition the attorney general for temporary authorization to retain outside counsel. The attorney general may grant a temporary authorization only if the local public entity demonstrates that:
No public counsel is available; and
Delay would cause substantial and immediate harm to public health or safety.
If the attorney general grants the temporary authorization, the attorney general must issue a written, time-limited certification specifying the scope of authorized legal representation.
An authorization granted under this section expires automatically 90 days after certification by the attorney general and may not be renewed for the same legal matter.
A private firm retained under a granted authorization may not enter into another contract for legal services with the same local public entity for five years following termination of the authorized legal services.
Nothing in this chapter shall be construed to restrict:
The constitutional duties of the attorney general or prosecuting attorneys; or
The ability of an individual public officer or employee to obtain private representation at personal expense.
This act may be known and cited as the public counsel integrity act.