King County Council

Committees

The Council uses its committee structure to consider the legislation before it. Ordinances and motions (policy statements) are assigned to a King County Council committee for consideration, and then are recommended to the full Council for action. Each year, the Council reorganizes and elects a Chair and Vice Chair. In addition, the Council decides yearly on its committee structure and makeup.

There are nine standing policy committees and three regional committees. Members of the Seattle City Council and representatives from suburban cities and local sewer districts are also members of the regional committees. In addition, all nine members of the Council meet as a Committee of the Whole to discuss broad-reaching legislation and issues.^[11]

Redistricting

County Council districts are redrawn in the year following the decennial US Census by a five-person redistricting commission using a similar model to the Washington State Redistricting Commission. The council appoints four redistricting commission members, two from each of the two major parties who then elect the fifth member who is also the chair. The redistricting commission must appoint a Districting Master by April 1st who must submit a plan to the commission by December 31st of a year ending in 1. The redistricting commission can amend the plan, but must approve the maps within 15 days.^[11]

King County Commission

In December 1852, King County was formed from a piece of Oregon Territory's Pierce County.^[12] Washington Territory was established in March 1853 via a federal organic act, allowing Washington to define how counties would be governed.^[12][13] The territory decided that each county should elect three-member Boards of Commissioners, who passed county laws in the form of resolutions and discussed policy via proceedings.^[14]

In 1948 Washington State passed a law allowing for counties to change their governance structures. This allowed King County citizens to vote to change their commissioners board into the nine-member King County Council in 1968.^[14] Voters passed the King County Home Rule Charter in an attempt to reform their government in reaction to political scandals.^[15] They were the first county in Washington to adopt a home rule charter.^[16] The same vote also established the position of King County Executive.^[13] The final three commissioners were John Spellman, Ed Munro, and John O'Brien.^[17]

King County Council

80 people ran for the new King County Council, and three of the candidates were women.^[15] The first King County Council was sworn in on May 1, 1969. The new council passed laws via ordinances and set policy via motions.^[14]

Of the nine original councilmembers, Bernice Stern became the first woman on the King County Council.^[15] In 1974, Ruby Chow became the first Asian American and second woman elected to the Council.^[15][17] In 1986, Ron Sims became the first African American elected to the council.^[17] In 2025, Rhonda Lewis became the first Black woman to be a member of the council.^[3] The appointment of Councilmember Lewis in 2025 also marked the first time that a majority of the King County Council members were women.^[3]

Notable Charter Changes

The council was expanded from nine to thirteen members in 1993.^[18] In the 2004 general election voters approved a charter amendment to reduce the size of the council from thirteen to nine, which went into effect January 1, 2006. With four fewer districts, the number of constituents per district rose from 138,000 residents to about 193,000.^[19]

Prior to 2009, councilmembers were elected on a partisan basis, and had to declare their political party unless they filed as an Independent. An independent candidate had to receive at least 20 percent of the vote in the primary election to qualify for the general election ballot.^{[citation needed]} This changed upon the passage of Charter Amendment 8 by voters in 2008, which made all elections for county offices nonpartisan.^[20]

In 2022, Charter Amendment 1 was passed by King County voters with 69% in favor and 31% opposed.^[21] The passage of this amendment moved elections for King County Council from odd to even years and shortened the term of councilmembers elected in the 2023 and 2025 elections from the normal four-year term to a three-year term to accommodate the shift.^[22] Prior to the passage of this amendment, elections for councilmembers in even numbered districts were up for election in years preceding US presidential elections, while councilmembers in odd districts were up for election in years following US presidential elections.^[23][24]