AGO 1949-51 No. 142.

• Case Date: October 05, 1949
• Court: Washington

Washington Attorney General Opinions 1949. AGO 1949-51 No. 142. October 5, 1949[Orig. Op. Page 1]PRIVATEWAIVER OF UNIFORM ALLOWANCE - ORGANIZED MILITIA OR WASHINGTON.Officers of the National Guard may not waive in advance the annual uniform allowance due them and such waiver would not preclude a later claim for such amount, but after uniform allowances become due and payable it may be waived.Lilburn H. Stevens, Brig. General, AGD. WNGThe Adjutant GeneralCamp MurrayFort Lewis, WashingtonCite as: AGO 1949-51 No. 142Dear Sir: Receipt is acknowledged of your letter of September 16, 1949, in which you ask our opinion as to whether officers of the National Guard may, in view of an insufficient appropriation for uniform allowances, waive the annual uniform allowance of $50.00 provided for under § 37, chapter 130, Laws of 1943 [8603-37 Rem. Supp. 1943]. You also inquire whether, if such waivers can be legally secured, the individuals would be precluded from making a claim for such allowance at some future date. Our conclusions may be summarized as follows: 1. A waiver executed in advance of the completion of the twelve months service required to make the allowance payable would be void as against public policy. 2. Such a waiver would not preclude the individual from later making a claim for the allowance. 3. After the allowance has become payable by completion of the requisite period of service it may be waived. ANALYSIS § 37, chapter 130, Laws of 1943 [8603-37 Rem. Supp. 1943] provides in part: [Orig. Op. Page 2] "There shall be audited and paid to each properly uniformed and equipped officer of the active list of the Organized Militia of Washington, not in Federal service, an initial uniform allowance of one hundred dollars ($100.00) and annually thereafter for each twelve months state service an additional uniform allowance of fifty dollars ($50.00), subject to such regulations as the Commander in Chief may prescribe to be audited and paid upon presentation of proper voucher therefor: * * *" The inquiry in this case is concerned with the $50.00 allowance to be paid annually for each twelve months state service. It is not concerned with the original $100.00 uniform allowance. This flat sum of $50.00 which is allowed annually to each officer of the National Guard is not contingent upon his actual expenditures for uniform but becomes...