- County
prosecutor's duties are defined by WA state
law:
- RCW
36.27.020
-
- The prosecuting
attorney (Ron
Zirkle)
shall:
-
- (1) Be legal
adviser of the *
legislative authority (county commissioners),
giving them (it) his or her written opinion when
required by the legislative authority or the
chairperson thereof touching any subject which the
legislative authority may be called or required to act
upon relating to the management of county affairs;
-
- (2) Be legal
adviser to all county and precinct
officers and
school
directors
in all matters relating to their official business,
and when required draw up all instruments of an
official nature for the use of said
officers;
-
- (3) Appear for
and represent the state,
county, and
all school
districts
subject to the supervisory control and direction of
the (WA) attorney
general in
all criminal and civil proceedings in which the state
or county may be a party;
-
- (4) Prosecute
all
criminal
and civil actions
in which the state
or the county
may be a party, defend all suits brought against the
state or the county, and prosecute actions upon
forfeited recognizance's and bonds and actions for the
recovery of debts, fines, penalties and
forfeitures
accruing to the state or the county;
-
- (5) Attend and
appear before and give advice to the grand
jury
when cases are presented to it for consideration and
draw all indictments when required by th e grand
jury;
-
- (6) Institute
and prosecute proceedings
before magistrates
for the arrest of persons charged with or reasonably
suspected of felonies when the prosecuting attorney
has information that any such offense has been
committed and the prosecuting attorney shall for that
purpose attend when required by them if the
prosecuting attorney is not then attendance upon the
superior
court;
-
- (7) Carefully
tax all cost
bills in criminal cases
and take care that no useless witness fees are taxed
as part of the costs and that the officers authorized
to execute process tax no other or greater fees than
the fees allowed by law;
-
- (8) Receive all
cost bills in criminal cases before district judges at
the trial of which the prosecuting attorney was not
present, before they are lodged with the legislative
authority for payment, whereupon the prosecuting
attorney may retax the same and the prosecuting must
do so if the legislative authority deems any bill
exorbitant or improperly taxed;
-
- (9) Present
all
violations
of the election laws
which may come to the prosecuting attorney's knowledge
to the special consideration of the
proper
jury;
-
- (10) Examine
once in each year the
official bonds of all county and precinct
officers and
report to the legislative authority any defect in the
bonds of any such officer;
-
- (11) Make an
annual
report to the governor
as of the 31st
of December
of each year setting forth the amount and nature of
business transacted by the prosecuting attorney in
that year with such other statements and suggestions
as the prosecuting attorney may deem
useful;
-
- (12) Send to
the state
liquor control board
at the end of each year a written report of all
prosecutions brought under the state liquor laws in
the county during the preceding year, showing in each
case, the
date of trial, name of accused, nature of charges,
disposition of case, and the name of the judge
presiding;
-
- (13) Seek to
reform and improve the administration of criminal
justice and stimulate efforts to remedy inadequacies
in injustice in substantive or procedural
law.
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