Whenever any action, claim, or proceeding is instituted against any person who is or was an officer, employee, or agent of a public utility district established under this title arising out of the performance or failure of performance of duties for, or employment with any such district, the commission of the district may grant a request by such person that the attorney of the district's choosing be authorized to defend said claim, suit, or proceeding, and the costs of defense, attorney's fees, and any obligation for payment arising from such action may be paid from the district's funds: PROVIDED, That costs of defense and/or judgment or settlement against such person shall not be paid in any case where the court has found that such person was not acting in good faith or within the scope of his or her employment with or duties for the district.
RCW 54.16.097
Actions against officer, employee, or agent—Defense and costs provided by public utility district—Exception.
Applied in 3 court decisions — leading case 112 Wash. 2d 1 - Washington Public Utility Districts' Utilities System v. Public Utility District No. 1 (1989)
Most recently applied in 154 Wash. 2d 606 - In re Recall Olsen (July 2005)
2010 c 8 s 17007; 1975 c 60 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.