drafter
Clerk 7/30/02
Title
A MOTION establishing policy direction for addressing the King County fiscal crisis and requesting the courts, prosecutor, sheriff and all other agencies involved in the criminal justice system within King County to work together to identify efficiencies and possible reductions.
Body
WHEREAS, King County has been a home rule county since the county charter was approved by the voters in 1969, and
WHEREAS, state law and the county charter establish three branches of county government: the legislative branch, with a thirteen-member elected county council; the executive branch, with an elected county executive; and the judicial branch, with a superior and district court, and with elected superior and district court judges, and
WHEREAS, the legislative branch is the policy making body and possesses powers to, among other things, adopt and enact ordinances, levy taxes, appropriate revenue and adopt budgets, and
WHEREAS, the executive branch is responsible for, among other things, operating county government, delivering county services and presenting an annual budget to the county council for review and approval, and
WHEREAS, the judicial branch is responsible for the administration of civil and criminal justice, and
WHEREAS, certain elements of county government are the responsibility of separately elected officials, including the assessor, 51 superior court judges, 26 district court judges, the prosecuting attorney and the sheriff, and
WHEREAS, King County's total 2002 budget of $2.9 billion is supported by a variety of revenues, and
WHEREAS, most of these revenues - $2.4 billion of the $2.9 billion total - are expressly restricted by state law to the purposes for which they are collected, and
WHEREAS, the remaining revenues of $500 million, which constitute the county's current expense (CX) fund, are the only funds available to fund many additional county services, and
WHEREAS, some of the services funded by...

Click here for full text