RCW 9A.48.070

Malicious mischief in the first degree.

Known as the Washington Criminal Code

The act spans §§ 9A.04.010 to 9A.98.020 (401 sections).

Applied in 19 court decisions — leading case 128 Wash. 2d 492 - City of Seattle v. Fontanilla (1996)

Most recently applied in State v. Abdi-Issa (February 2022)

2017 c 283 s 1; 2009 c 431 s 4; 1983 1st ex.s. c 4 s 1; 1975 1st ex.s. c 260 s 9A.48.070.

How often courts cite this section

citing decisions per year

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.

(1) A person is guilty of malicious mischief in the first degree if he or she knowingly and maliciously:

(a) Causes physical damage to the property of another in an amount exceeding five thousand dollars;

(b) Causes an interruption or impairment of service rendered to the public by physically damaging or tampering with an emergency vehicle or property of the state, a political subdivision thereof, or a public utility or mode of public transportation, power, or communication;

(c) Causes an impairment of the safety, efficiency, or operation of an aircraft by physically damaging or tampering with the aircraft or aircraft equipment, fuel, lubricant, or parts; or

(d) Causes an interruption or impairment of service rendered to the public by, without lawful authority, physically damaging, destroying, or removing an official ballot deposit box or ballot drop box or, without lawful authority, damaging, destroying, removing, or tampering with the contents thereof.

(2) Malicious mischief in the first degree is a class B felony.

Official source: Washington State Legislature. Reproduced from public-domain Washington statutes; confirm against the official source for the current text. Not legal advice.