WA HB2263

Local public entities (counties, cities, school districts, special purpose districts) are prohibited from contracting with private law firms for legal services and must use only in-house public counsel or attorneys obtained through interlocal agreements with other public entities

Existing contracts with outside counsel must terminate within 90 days of the act's effective date; payments to outside counsel are void and constitute unauthorized expenditures, with personal liability for officials who approve such payments

The attorney general must maintain a roster of public counsel available for temporary interlocal assignment and may grant limited 90-day emergency authorizations to hire outside counsel only when no public counsel is available and delay would cause substantial harm to public health or safety

Local public entities must submit quarterly reports of all legal expenditures to the state auditor, who will publish a searchable public database of legal spending by category and entity

State residents may sue to enjoin violations with attorney fee recovery; the attorney general may impose civil penalties up to three times the improper payment amount against violating entities