Translate
Charter Review Commission
The Charter review process
The Charter Review Commission reviews the King County Charter every 10 years. The Commission suggest changes to the County Council. Council-approved amendments are then put on the ballot for voters to approve or deny.
The last Charter Review Commission ran 2018 to 2019 and started in July 2018.
Download the final 2018 to 2019 Charter Review Commission report (13,584KB)
How we select the Charter Review Commissioners
Our County Executive suggests who makes up the charter commission. The County Council approves these members before the review begins.
The Review Commissioners suggest changes to our Charter to the County Council to approve. Before it is accepted, voters must approve the suggest amendment.
2018 to 2019 Review Commissioners
- Commision co-chairs
- Louise Miller, former King County Councilmember; president of the Seattle Center Foundation Board
- Ron Sims, former HUD Deputy Secretary; former King County Executive
- Tim Ceis, partner at Ceis Bayne East Strategies
- Joe Fain, former Washington State Senator
- Elizabeth Ford, director of Fair Work Center Legal Clinic I Distinguished Practitioner in Residence, Seattle University School of Law
- Ian Goodhew, director of Government Relations, UW Medicine
- David Heller, attorney with Heller Law Firm
- Michael Herschensohn, former principle at Atwater Consulting
- William Ibershof, public sector manager at Waste Management, Kirkland
- Sean Kelly, mayor for City of Maple Valley
- Linda Larson, partner at Nossaman, LLP, Seattle
- Clayton Lewis, CEO and co-founder of Arivale I General Partner at Maveron
- Marcos Martinez, executive director of Casa Latina
- Nat Morales, King County outreach for Senator Patty Murray's Office
- Jeff Natter, executive director of Pacific Hospital Preservation and Development Authority
- Toby Nixon, senior program manager at Microsoft
- Nikkita Oliver, Legal Innovators Fellowship at Law for Black Lives; case manager at Creative Justice
- Rob Saka, attorney at Microsoft
- Brooks Salazar, judicial clerk at State of Washington
- Beth Sigall Founder, Eastside Education Network
- Alejandra Tres Executive, director at Municipal League of King County/Foundation
- Kinnon Williams, attorney/shareholder at Inslee Best Doezier & Rider, PS
- Sung Yang, principal with Pacific Public Affairs
2018 to 2019 meetings
January 23, 2020
1 to 2 pm
King County Courthouse (12th floor, Ginger Conference Room)
516 3rd Ave, Seattle, WA 98104
January 13, 2020
2 to 3 pm
King County Courthouse (12th floor, Southwest Conference Room)
516 3rd Ave, Seattle, WA 98104
November 20, 2019
5:30 pm
Chinook Building, Room 121/123
401 5th Ave, Seattle, WA 98104
November 6, 2019
5:30 to 7:30 pm
Chinook Building, Room 121/123
401 5th Ave, Seattle, WA 98104
September 25, 2019
6 to 8 pm
Chinook Building, Room 121/123
401 5th Ave, Seattle, WA 98104
June 26, 2019
6 to 8 pm
Chinook Building, Room 121/123
401 5th Ave, Seattle, WA 98104
May 22, 2019
5:30 to 8:30 pm
Chinook Building, Room 121/123
401 5th Ave, Seattle, WA 98104
April 24, 2019
6 to 8 pm
Chinook Building, Room 121/123
401 5th Ave, Seattle, WA 98104
March 27, 2019
6 to 8 pm
Chinook Building, Room 121/123
401 5th Ave, Seattle, WA 98104
March 14, 2019
6 to 8 pm
Chinook Building, Room 128
401 5th Ave, Seattle, WA 98104
February 27, 2019
6 to 8 pm
Chinook Building, Room 121/123
401 5th Ave, Seattle, WA 98104
January 16, 2019
5:30 to 8:30 pm
Chinook Building, Room 121/123
401 5th Ave, Seattle, WA 98104
December 19, 2018
6 to 8 pm
Chinook Building, Room 121/123
401 5th Ave, Seattle, WA 98104
November 20, 2018
6 to 8 pm
Chinook Building, Room 121/123
401 5th Ave, Seattle, WA 98104
- Agenda and meeting materials (17.4MB)
- Amendment tracker (142KB)
- Additional materials (454KB)
- Minutes (42KB)
October 24, 2018
6 to 8 pm
Chinook Building, Room 121/123
401 5th Ave, Seattle, WA 98104
September 26, 2018
6 to 8 pm
Chinook Building, Room 121/123
401 5th Ave, Seattle, WA 98104
July 24, 2018
6 to 8 pm
Chinook Building, Room 121/123
401 5th Ave, Seattle, WA 98104
Fall community meetings
October 23, 2019
7 pm
King County Courthouse
516 3rd Ave, 10th Floor
Seattle, WA 98104
October 17, 2019
7 pm
Federal Way City Council Chambers
33325 8th Ave S
Federal Way, WA 98003
October 16, 2019
7 pm
Shoreline City Council Chambers
17500 Midvale Ave N
Shoreline, WA 98133
October 15, 2019
7 pm
Bellevue City Council Chambers
450 110th Ave NE
Bellevue, WA 98004
Spring community meetings
February 26, 2019
7 to 9 pm
Federal Way Community Center
876 S 333rd St
Federal Way, WA 98003
February 20, 2019
7 to 9 pm
Chief Kanim Middle School
32627 SE Redmond-Fall City Rd
Fall City, WA 98024
February 19, 2019
7 to 9 pm
The Officers Club
7448 63rd Ave NE
Seattle, WA 98115
King County Charter
A charter is a constitution for county government.
The King County Charter defines the makeup and duties of local government including
- Powers of the county including the legislative and executive branches
- Employee, elections, financial, and appeal procedures and systems
- Rules for general operations and when government powers transition
The charter does not deal with specific details of the county's operations including
- Council-approved laws (also called ordinances)
- Adopted public rules or ruling policies
- Procedures from the director of the department or office responsible for the program
Current King County Code and Charter
Charters cannot fix specific, pressing problems. It is often easier and faster to solve these issues with laws, rules, or procedure changes. Federal or state law also dictates many county services and regulations.
Charter amendments can help with problems requiring
- Long-term solutions to last through changing factors
- Changes to the Charter's core values of checks and balances, duties, and merit
- Updates to a process that requires an in-depth plan