KCLL Klues: Washington State Legal Research » Research Tips

New Version of King County Superior Court Local Rules Effective September 1

Kris — Fri, 27 Aug 2010 21:08:22 +0000

The King County Superior Court has posted the set of Local Rules that take effect September 1, 2010. You can view the entire set of new local rules, a set of the rules showing changes from the previous version, and sets of rules going back to 2004 at the King County Superior Court Local Rules page. We have also printed sets of the new rules for your use when you are at the library.

Waiving Interest on Legal Financial Obligations

Craig — Wed, 25 Aug 2010 18:25:30 +0000

The American Civil Liberties Union of Washington has published an online resource on how to obtain a court order waiving or reducing the interest that accrues on legal financial obligations. The packet contains information regarding the Washington state laws that govern the process, as well as step-by-step instructions and court forms for completing the procedure yourself. For more information, please use the following links:

Interest Waiver Guide (from the ACLU)

Revised Code of Washington (RCW) Title 10.82.090 – Interest on Judgments

Guide to Legal Research Apps and More

Rick — Fri, 20 Aug 2010 21:29:40 +0000

Did you know that there are mobile apps for Black’s Law Dictionary, Lexis/Nexis and Fastcase? You would if you’d read the online guide Mobile Applications for Law Students and Lawyers, authored by Vicki Steiner from the Hugh and Hazel Darling Law Library at the UCL A School of Law. The Guide has separate tabs devoted to apps for legal research and news, law school and bar study, general productivity and fun. It also has a section with links to mobile app search engines and app stores. Note that mobile apps are written for specific devices so make sure to confirm that the app you’re interested in is available for your particular phone or PDA. Also, some apps are free and some are not so you may be required to spend some money to get what you want.

Legislative History Research for Other States

Kris — Sat, 10 Jul 2010 00:06:44 +0000

Many of you are familiar with doing legislative history research in Washington State, but if you need similar information from other states, here are some suggestions.

You might try looking at a research guide on legislative history for the state you are interested in. The law library at the Indiana University Maurer School of Law maintains the website State Legislative History Research Guides on the Web. It has a list of the states and online legislative history guides for each state — in some instances, more than one for a state.

Another possibility is to enlist the help of a law library in the state you are researching. The Legislative Source Book on the website for the Law Librarians’ Society of Washington, D.C. has a page on State Legislatures, State Laws, and State Regulations. That page has contact information for the state law library or other resource in each state.

Finally, you might want to hire someone to do the research for you. The same webpage from the Legislative Source Book has contact information for commercial services that perform legislative history research (scroll down to the bottom of the page to find that list.)

Understanding Our State Budget Process

Rick — Fri, 04 Jun 2010 20:19:24 +0000

The State’s annual budget has a tremendous affect on all of us but understanding how it’s derived can be tricky. Fortunately, the Legislative Evaluation and Accountability Program Committee publishes a good guide to the State’s budgeting process called Citizen’s Guide to The Budget. The Guide uses a series of hypothetical questions to walk you through the major components of the budget and the budget planning process.

Don’t Forget SupportCalc!

Rick — Fri, 04 Jun 2010 16:44:54 +0000

Just a reminder that we recently installed copies of SupportCalc in both of our branches. SupportCalc is professional child support calculation software from Legal+Plus . The version we’ve installed allows you to create new SupportCalc files and open/edit files you’ve already created back at the office. You can also print completed files — at a minimal charge of 15 cents per page — and/or save them to your own USB drive.

Facts About Flag Lowering

Rick — Thu, 27 May 2010 19:55:41 +0000

You see it periodically: a flag at a courthouse, public school or other state government building flying at half-staff. You understand it probably has something to do with honoring the service of a prominent person who has recently died or commemorating an historic event. But who decides what circumstances trigger this?

At the State level, it’s the Office of the Governor. The Governor’s web site includes a link to a page devoted to the rules for flag lowering. There you will find the conditions when it is appropriate to fly the flag at half-staff and information about recent requests by the Governor to do so. The page also includes links to additional information about the Washington State and United States flags and to Title 4 of the US Code, which describes the proper use and display of our national flag.

It’s interesting to note that while we’re supposed to fly the flag at half-staff on Pearl Harbor Rememberance Day (Dec. 7) and Patriot Day (September 11), we’re not supposed to do so on Memorial Day or Veterans Day.

Updated Guide for District and Municipal Court Practice

Rick — Mon, 24 May 2010 21:58:28 +0000

Finding up-to-date information about procedures in District and Municipal courts–what our State collectively calls Courts of Limited Jurisdiction–is always difficult so we were very happy to see the arrival of AOC’s new Manual for Courts of Limited Jurisdiction (12/2009). The Manual includes substantial sections on civil, criminal and special proceedings such as domestic violence but it also includes sections about the history of limited jurisdiction courts in Washington, RALJ and De Novo appeals, contempt of court, fish and wildlife violations and even a small section on legal research. It’s an excellent addition to the other materials we use for research in this area and something you should review if you are working with a District or Municipal court. The Manual is not available directly on the Internet but is shelved in both of our branches at KFW 516 .C68 M36.

Archived RCWs Available Online

Kris — Fri, 23 Apr 2010 15:34:38 +0000

The Office of the Code Reviser has posted an online archive of the Revised Code of Washington going back to 2002. The archived versions are PDF files of the official printed volumes.

While there are no plans to add more retrospectively, the archive will grow going forward.

Montana Indian Law Portal

Rita D. — Thu, 15 Apr 2010 16:36:30 +0000

The State Law Library of Montana has announced the creation of the Montana Indian Law Portal. This website provides access to Montana’s tribal legal documents such as tribal court opinions, constitutions, water rights compacts, gaming compacts, fish and game regulations and codes. Judy Meadows, Montana State Law Librarian states, “we believe it is the first comprehensive Indian law site for one state that includes all basic and controlling documents of the tribes.” The project manager, Daniel Belcourt, met with the tribes and digitized documents in situ in order to capture this rich resource.

Congratulations to the Montana State Law Library for their role in collecting and cataloging these vital documents and making them available to the public. Click here to read more about this project and view the website.