AGO 1949-51 No. 165.

• Case Date: November 19, 1949
• Court: Washington

Washington Attorney General Opinions 1949. AGO 1949-51 No. 165. November 19, 1949[Orig. Op. Page 1]PRIVATEFINES - LIQUOR VIOLATIONS - DISTRIBUTION TO CITIES AND COUNTIES.Fines collected for violations of the state liquor laws by a justice of the peace who is also a police judge should be remitted to the city wherein that court is seated and all other fines should be distributed to the county wherein the court imposing such fines is located.Mr. Lawrence Hubble Chief Examiner Division of Municipal Corporations Legislative Building Olympia, WashingtonCite as: AGO 1949-51 No. 165Dear Sir: We have your letter of September 23, 1949, in which you ask the following question: In what cases are the distribution of fines for violation of the state liquor law to be made to cities or towns and in what cases to be made to the counties? Our conclusion may be summarized as follows: Those fines collected by a justice of the peace in a city wherein the judge is also a municipal judge should go to such city and all others to the county wherein the fines are incurred. ANALYSIS The matter of the proper distribution of fines imposed for violation of the state liquor act has been considered by this office at various times since the adoption of the act in 1933. The question has been complicated by the fact that the controlling statute is subject to various interpretations, none of which completely embrace the several factual situations which may come within its purview. As originally enacted, the material portion of section 70, chapter 72, Laws of 1933, Ex. Sess., reads as follows: [Orig. Op. Page 2] "* * * All state, county and municipal peace officers are hereby charged with the duty of investigating and prosecuting all violations of this act, and all fines imposed for violations of this act shall belong to the county, city or town wherein the court imposing the fine is located." The intent of the legislature that both counties and cities or towns should share in the fines is clear, but the difficulty of determining when the city should receive the benefit of the fines and when the county, is not settled from the language "wherein the court imposing the fine is located." The problem which immediately comes to mind is whether the legislature intended that the location of the court within a city or town was conclusive. That is, if within the city or town...