The limitations prescribed in this chapter shall apply to actions brought in the name or for the benefit of any county or other municipality or quasimunicipality of the state, in the same manner as to actions brought by private parties: PROVIDED, That, except as provided in RCW 4.16.310, there shall be no limitation to actions brought in the name or for the benefit of the state, and no claim of right predicated upon the lapse of time shall ever be asserted against the state, including actions asserting a claim for civil penalties under RCW 19.86.140: AND FURTHER PROVIDED, That no previously existing statute of limitations shall be interposed as a defense to any action brought in the name or for the benefit of the state, although such statute may have run and become fully operative as a defense prior to February 27, 1903, nor shall any cause of action against the state be predicated upon such a statute.
RCW 4.16.160
Application of limitations to actions by state, counties, municipalities.
Applied in 38 court decisions — leading case 87 Wash. 2d 6 - Highline School District No. 401 v. Port of Seattle (1976)
Most recently applied in In re Breast Cancer Prevention Fund (August 2017)
2021 c 228 s 3; 1986 c 305 s 701; 1955 c 43 s 2
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.