The legislative powers of a charter city shall be vested in a mayor and a city council, to consist of such number of members and to have such powers as may be provided for in its charter. The charter may provide for direct legislation by the people through the initiative and referendum upon any matter within the scope of the powers, functions, or duties of the city. The mayor and council and such other elective officers as may be provided for in such charter shall be elected at such times and in such manner as provided in Title 29A RCW, and for such terms and shall perform such duties as may be prescribed in the charter, and shall receive compensation in accordance with the process or standards of a charter provision or ordinance which conforms with RCW 35.21.015.
RCW 35.22.200
Legislative powers of charter city—Where vested—Direct legislation.
Applied in 11 court decisions — leading case 87 Wash. 2d 457 - City of Spokane v. Spokane Police Guild (1976)
Most recently applied in Jewels Helping Hands v. Hansen (April 2025)
2015 c 53 s 36; 2001 c 73 s 2; 1965 ex.s. c 47 s 13; 1965 c 7 s 35.22.200
How often courts cite this section
Court decisions citing this, by year. The dip in the last several years is a data-coverage gap, not a real trend — our corpus holds fewer opinions from the most recent years, so recent citations are undercounted.
Official source: Washington State Legislature. Reproduced from public-domain Washington statutes; confirm against the official source for the current text. Not legal advice.