Benton County petitions being questioned

PROSSER -- Two weeks after Fred Staples submitted about 18,500 signatures to move the Benton County seat, county commissioners aren't sure what to do with them.

Among the options is finding that the petitions are void and tossing out Staples' three years of work to collect the signatures. Or the commissioners could simply return the petitions to Staples so he can continue collecting more for an election in 2010.

Staples turned in the petitions Sept. 15 calling for a vote on moving the county seat from Prosser to Kennewick.

But four days later, the state Attorney General's Office released a nonbinding opinion that questioned whether the commissioners should have accepted the petitions.

State statutes allow county seat relocation measures only on a general election in an even-numbered year and require those petitions be submitted at least six months before the election.

The statutes don't specifically say if there's a limit to how far ahead of an election petitions can be submitted. But the attorney general's opinion said the statutes "clearly imply" petition signatures should be verified before the next general election following the date they are filed.

Under that interpretation, since Staples submitted his petitions in September and the next general election is in November, his effort could be unsuccessful because it was submitted too late.

The opinion said there is "no basis" for accepting petitions early and holding them for a future election.

But the problem is Benton County commissioners already accepted the petitions before the attorney general's opinion was issued. And there's no clear reading of how to apply the law to this situation.

Because of that, Ryan Brown, the county's chief civil deputy prosecuting attorney, said in a memo to the commissioners one option is to return the petitions to Staples because no one knew better.

Staples then would have until May 2010 to gather more signatures to put the measure on the November 2010 ballot.

However, since the law is uncertain, any decision could be challenged in court, either by Staples or opponents of his measure.

Staples said he'd prefer that the county keep the petitions, but he doesn't care much either way. All that matters to him is that the petitions still go toward his November 2010 ballot effort.

"They gotta give 'em back or keep 'em," he said. "They're not worthless."

The matter is complicated because century-old state statues are vague, Brown said. "The laws weren't as detailed as they are now, so it leaves a lot to the imagination," he said.

That means the county may have to make its best-informed decision and hope for the best, he said.

"Someone's just going to have to take an action and let the chips fall the way they may," Brown said.

Commissioner Claude Oliver said that he supported returning the petitions to "keep the process engaged" and "between Mr. Staples and the people of Benton County."

The commissioners plan to discuss the matter further at their weekly meeting, which starts at 9 a.m. Monday at the Prosser courthouse.

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