MRSC Insight Blog

Posts for Law Enforcement

Recapping the August 2025 Local Ballot Measures

September 10, 2025 by Steve Hawley
Category: Emergency Medical Services , Fire Protection , Parks and Recreation Districts , Transportation Finance , Law Enforcement , Ballot Measures , Property Taxes , Natural Resources

Library levies, fire district measures, and sales taxes for law enforcement or 911 programs fared well; other local ballot measure results were mixed.

More Process and Proof: 2025 Legislative Changes to Civil Asset Forfeiture Procedures

July 16, 2025 by Harry Boesche
Category: Law Enforcement , New Legislation and Regulations

New in 2025, HB 1440 has made changes to civil asset forfeiture procedures impacting burden of proof, hearing request deadlines and removal procedures, consolidation of procedures, and agency reporting requirements, among other things.

Immigration Regulation and the Role of Local Governments

April 16, 2025 by Harry Boesche
Category: Court Decisions and AGO Opinions , Law Enforcement

Immigration issues involve a complicated web of federal, state, and local regulation. How do federal requirements apply to state and local government and are local agencies required to assist the federal government’s enforcement of immigration laws within their jurisdictions?

How Did Local Ballot Measures Fare in the November 2024 General Election?

December 9, 2024 by Steve Hawley
Category: Parks, Recreation, and Culture , Transportation , Emergency Medical Services , Fire Protection , Revenues , Minimum Wage , Law Enforcement , Ballot Measures , Special Districts

Tax-related initiatives struggled to gain voter approval in the 2024 November general election, and it was a mixed bag for other local ballot measures across the state.

Sunset with Port of Everett in background

Recapping the August 2024 Local Ballot Measure Results

September 4, 2024 by Steve Hawley
Category: Parks, Recreation, and Culture , Transportation , Port Districts , Emergency Medical Services , Fire Protection , Law Enforcement , Ballot Measures

Local governments placed 90 ballot measures in the August primary election, including many levy lid lift proposals, various public safety taxes, fire benefit charges, a citywide cannabis sales ban, and proposed service expansions.

Recapping the November 2023 Local Ballot Measure Results

December 13, 2023 by Steve Hawley
Category: Courts and Criminal Justice System , Parks and Recreation Finance , Housing , Emergency Medical Services , Fire Protection , Homelessness , Law Enforcement , Ballot Measures

There were a 113 ballot measures before voters this past November, in an off-year election that drew record-low voter turnouts. How did that impact levy lid lifts requests, newly proposed districts, or citizen's initiatives?

2022 Legislation About Public Safety

June 13, 2022 by Linda Gallagher
Category: Law Enforcement , New Legislation and Regulations

Among other items, 2022 legislation related to public safety clarifies use-of-force provisions for law enforcement and makes slight changes to what could be considered military equipment.

New Laws About Public Safety

November 22, 2021 by Linda Gallagher
Category: Law Enforcement , New Legislation and Regulations

The 2021 Regular Legislative Session included several bills that impacted local law enforcement agencies, and this blog offers an overview of some of the more complex bills.

Police, Mental Health Professionals Partner to Improve 911 Response

December 31, 2020 by Leah LaCivita
Category: Emergency Medical Services , Law Enforcement

This blog looks at the co-responder law enforcement model, which brings social service responders and mental health professionals into the 911 crisis response.

Ballot Measure Results from the 2020 General Election

November 12, 2020 by Steve Hawley
Category: Parks and Recreation Finance , Fire Protection , Transportation Finance , Forms of Government-County , Law Enforcement , Ballot Measures

This blog post recaps some of the local ballot measure results from the November 2020 general election and discusses why the record-breaking turnout may make ballot measure validation tougher next year.

Promising Practices for Washington Local Governments: October 2020

October 29, 2020 by Byron Katsuyama
Category: Law Enforcement , Economic Development

This post highlights promising practices in revitalizing downtown cores, reimagining the functions of law enforcement, and paperless approval processes.

New Regulations for the Use of Facial Recognition Technology

June 22, 2020 by Flannary Collins
Category: Law Enforcement , New Legislation and Regulations

The purpose of this blog post is to highlight the requirements in ESSB 6280, Washington State's new law regulating the use of facial technology software.