The Washington State Attorney General's Office produces a range of reports and brochures to assist Washingtonians in learning about their legal rights, find help they might need, and understand the roles of the office. The following list contains a selection of publications produced by the office. If you don’t see what you need here, you can also check our “Help by Topic page
The Attorney General's Office is authorized to bring legal action only in the name of the State of Washington, and is prohibited from serving as an attorney for individual consumers. We are further prohibited from giving advice, rendering opinions or interpretations, or conducting research on behalf of individuals or businesses.
DSHS’s ENDHARM hotline Washington State has a toll-free, 24 hour, 7 day-a-week hotline that will connect you directly to the appropriate local office to report suspected child abuse or neglect. Call 1-866-ENDHARM (1-866-363-4276), During the Day - Contact your local CPS office.
MISSION The Office of the Attorney General will provide excellent, independent, and ethical legal services to the State of Washington and protect the rights of its people. ANTI-RACIST COMMITMENT The Office of the Attorney General is committed to recognizing, addressing, and eradicating all forms of racism within the scope of its work and operations.
# | Attorney General | Term of office |
---|---|---|
15 | Ken Eikenberry | 1993 |
16 | Christine Gregoire | 2005 |
17 | Rob McKenna | 2013 |
18 | Bob Ferguson | present |
United States Attorney General | |
---|---|
Incumbent Merrick Garland since March 11, 2021 | |
United States Department of Justice | |
Style | Mr. Attorney General (informal) The Honorable (formal) |
Member of | Cabinet National Security Council |
The Washington State Attorney General's Office produce s a range of reports and brochures to assist Washingtonians in learning about their legal rights, find help they might need, and understand the roles of the office.
Keep Washington Working Model Guidance[click to expand/contract] The Washington State Legislature passed the Keep Washington Working Act (KWW), Laws of 2019 ch. 440, E2SB 5497, after holding four public hearings on the bill during the 2019 Legislative Session. The bill passed the Legislature with bipartisan support.
If the business disagrees with your information or they believe you are not legally entitled to an adjustment, this office cannot compel a firm to resolve a complaint. In such a case, we will inform you of your options. The main option in such disputes is to bring a legal action, such as in Small Claims Court. If the amount claimed by you is over the limit handled by Small Claims Court, a private lawsuit may be necessary. The state Consumer Protection Act provides a remedy for individuals who have been harmed by unfair or deceptive business practices. If you are successful in such a suit you may also recover the costs of bringing suit, including your attorney’s fees.
Should you have any new information, you should send it to the attention of that person. Most firms will respond, but it may take three weeks or more from the time you first register your complaint. If we don’t get a response within a reasonable time, we will attempt to contact the firm again.
One criterion we use in selecting cases for legal action is the extent to which the activity harms the public as a whole. Another consideration is how likely our action will be in discouraging unfair practices in the future.
In many cases the business will respond with a satisfactory solution, that we will forward on to you, and the case will be closed.
The primary role of the Attorney General's Office is to provide legal representation to the State of Washington, its agencies, and state officials acting in their official capacities. The office is not authorized to advise or represent private citizens on personal legal matters. If you need help with a personal legal matter-such as filing ...
For information on whether a grievance might be appropriate in your situation, visit http://www.wsba.org/Licensing-and-Lawyer-Conduct/Discipline/File-a-Complaint-Against-a-Lawyer. To discuss filing a grievance, call 1-800-945-9722 or write to this address:
Call 1-866-ENDHARM (1-866-363-4276) , During the Day - Contact your local CPS office.
You may contact any of the following: 1 DSHS’s ENDHARM hotline Report your concerns about an elderly or disabled person to the Department of Social and Health Services by calling 1-866-ENDHARM (1-866-363-4276 ); or 2 Adult Protective Services Contact Adult Protective Services by calling a toll-free number you will find on the following website: https://www.dshs.wa.gov/altsa/home-and-community-services/reporting-abuse; or 3 Complaint Resolution Unit If the person is living in a long-term care facility, call the Department of Social and Health Services at 1-800-562-6078. (Long-term care facilities and programs include nursing homes, assisted living facilities, adult family homes, residential habilitation centers (Fircrest, Lakeland Village, Rainier, and Yakima Valley) and community residential services and support (“supported living”) programs; or
Adult Protective Services Contact Adult Protective Services by calling a toll-free number you will find on the following website: https://www.dshs.wa.gov/altsa/home-and-community-services/reporting-abuse; or
The federal Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) governs the disclosure of documents held by U.S. government agencies. A good source of information about FOIA is the National Freedom of Information Center, www.nfoic.org/foi-center. [ Back to Top] I need a copy of a legal document.
The Attorney General’s Office provides formal written opinions about constitutional or legal questions when requested by statewide elected officials, members of the Legislature, appointed heads of state agencies, and county prosecuting attorneys. The office does not prepare opinions for private citizens, state agency employees, or employees of local agencies other than county prosecutors. An official opinion expresses the Attorney General’s position on a point of law. Opinions are considered persuasive but not binding by the courts. To review recent opinions issued by the office visit www.atg.wa.gov/ago-opinions.
The Office of the Attorney General will provide excellent, independent, and ethical legal services to the State of Washington and protect the rights of its people.
The Office of the Attorney General will be the best public law office in the United States.
All staff in the Office of the Attorney General are guided by the following core values:
Upon request, a consumer reporting agency must disclose to you all of its information and its sources for that information. This includes identification of anyone who obtained reports for employment purposes in the past two years, plus the names of all others who requested credit reports or other information about you in the last six months. The one exception to this disclosure requirement is your medical records, but you may direct that information to the physician of your choice.
This written explanation or summary must be 100 words or less.
The credit reporting agency must provide you with a free copy of your file if you have been denied credit within the last 30 days.
If a person takes adverse action that is based on information contained in your credit report, in most cases they must provide you with written notice of the adverse action, and provide you with the name, address, and phone number of the consumer reporting agency that furnished the report to that person. This includes prospective landlords conducting credit screening of potential tenants.
Notify the credit reporting agency if you've discovered an error in your file. The agency is required to investigate the items in question within 30 business days of receiving your notice of dispute. If the new investigation reveals an error or if the disputed information cannot be verified, a corrected version will be sent, at your request, to anyone who received the report in the past six months. Job applicants can have corrected reports sent to anyone who received a copy during the past two years.
Under Washington's law relating to judgments, a judgment can remain on your report for a ten-year period after it is entered. If the judgment is renewed, it can remain ...
Any business, individual, or government agency may request a credit report for its legitimate business needs involving a transaction with the consumer. These include: credit granting considerations; review or collection of an account; employment considerations; insurance underwriting; a potential partnership; security clearance; or lease. Reports may also be issued at the written request of the consumer or a court.
As chief legal officers of the states, commonwealths, District of Columbia, and territories of the United States, the role of an attorney general is to serve as counselor to state government agencies and legislatures, and as a representative of the public interest.
The People’s Lawyer is a biweekly podcast from NAAG that explores the role of state and territory attorneys general as chief legal officers and their work protecting the rule of law and the U.S. Constitution.
Issuing formal opinions to state agencies. Acting as public advocates in areas such as child support enforcement, consumer protections, antitrust and utility regulation. Proposing legislation. Enforcing federal and state environmental laws. Representing the state and state agencies before the state and federal courts.