PS 101 – Chapter 5 – Article 2 – On a County – Training 4 Private Investigators and Process Servers

RCW 4.28.080(1)

If the action is against any county in this state, to the county Auditor or, during normal office hours, to the deputy Auditor, or in the case of a charter county, summons may be served upon the agent, if any designated by the legislative authority.

Currently there are 39 counties in the state of Washington. This statute creates, for the purpose of service, two classifications of counties, charter counties and non-charter counties.

There are two methods available to serve a non-charter county. The first is to present the summons to the county Auditor. This can be done on any day and at any time of the day and at any location. Normally such service is accomplished in an easy and straight forward manner by the process server going to the Auditor’s office, informing the receptionist of his business there, and presenting the summons in a polite and business like way to the county Auditor. The vast majority of services on counties are completed in just this manner.

However, the statute does not tie the process server’s hands at this point. In those rare situations where the documents cannot be served at the Auditor’s office, it is perfectly valid to present the summons to the Auditor outside business hours and in locations outside the Auditor’s office. As a practical and political matter, it is good practice to avoid making such serves outside of business hours and/or away from the Auditor’s office. Although it is legal and proper to do so it might make for strained relations with a powerful county official if done on a regular basis.

The second method to serve a non-charter county is to present the summons to a deputy Auditor. The statute imposes a limitation on the process server in terms of when this can be done. The service must take place “during normal office hours.” It is reasonable that such hours are those when the Auditor’s office is open to the general public. Though these hours may vary somewhat from county to county they are most often found as 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Service on a county, by presentation to a deputy Auditor, is subject to attack if the service time is outside the normal office hours for that office.

The statute provides an additional means of service on what are known as charter counties. To determine whether or not a particular county is a charter county, a professional process server should make inquiry with the county Auditor or other official offices for that county. Charter counties are allowed, though not required, to designate an agent for the receipt of summonses. There is no time, day, or location restriction on when or where the summons may be presented to the agent. In any event, charter counties can still be served by presentation to the Auditor or deputy Auditor.

As of 2008 there are 6 counties which have elected to adopt charters:

Clallam (1979)
King (1969)
Pierce (1981)
San Juan (2005)
Snohomish (1980)
Whatcom (1979)

Service Instruction Summary

Non-charter county

Present documents to:

	Who	When & Where
1.	County auditor	Anytime Anywhere
2.	Deputy auditor	During normal office hours – Anywhere

Charter county

Present documents to:

	Who	When & Where
1.	Agent designated by the county’s legislative authority	Anytime Anywhere
2.	County auditor	Anytime Anywhere
3.	Deputy auditor	During normal office hours – Anywhere

NOTE: As of 2008 the charter counties were: Clallam, King, Pierce, Snohomish, San Juan, and Whatcom.

NOTE: Extreme caution should be used if someone, not fitting these descriptions, says they have been “authorized” to accept service.

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