Wash. Rev. Code » Title 36 · Chapter 36.16
Revised Code of Washington

Wash. Rev. Code § 36.16.138 (2026)

Liability insurance for officers and employees of municipal corporations and political subdivisions authorized

✓ current as of May 2026
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Any board of commissioners, council, or board of directors or other governing board of any county, city, town, school district, port district, public utility district, water-sewer district, irrigation district, or other municipal corporation or political subdivision is authorized to purchase insurance to protect and hold personally harmless any of its commissioners, councilmembers, directors, or other governing board members, and any of its other officers, employees, and agents from any action, claim, or proceeding instituted against the foregoing individuals arising out of the performance, purported performance, or failure of performance, in good faith of duties for, or employment with, such institutions and to hold these individuals harmless from any expenses connected with the defense, settlement, or monetary judgments from such actions, claims, or proceedings. The purchase of such insurance for any of the foregoing individuals and the policy limits shall be discretionary with the municipal corporation or political subdivision, and such insurance shall not be considered to be compensation for these individuals.
The provisions of this section are cumulative and in addition to any other provision of law authorizing any municipal corporation or political subdivision to purchase liability insurance.
[ 1999 c 153 s 43; 1975 c 16 s 1.]

Notes:

Part headings not law—1999 c 153: See note following RCW 57.04.050.
Liability insurance for officers and employees authorized: RCW 28A.400.360, 28B.10.660, 35.21.205, 52.12.071, 53.08.205, 54.16.095, 57.08.105, and 87.03.162.
Notes of Decisions
Cited in 2 cases, 1989–1990 · leading case: Washington Pub. Util. Districts' Utils. Sys. v. Pub. Util. Dist. No. 1, 771 P.2d 701 (Wash. 1989).
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Washington Pub. Util. Districts' Utils. Sys. v. Pub. Util. Dist. No. 1, 771 P.2d 701 (Wash. 1989). “096; see RCW 36.16.138. These provisions are to be construed liberally in order to effectuate the purposes of RCW Title 54, which deals specifically with public utility districts.”
Washington Hosp. Liab. Ins. Fund v. Pub. Hosp. Dist. No. 1, 795 P.2d 717 (Wash. Ct. App. 1990). · cites it 4× “However, the parties agree, as we think they must, that public hospital districts have the common law authority to indemnify their officers for loss incurred in the good faith discharge of their duties.”
Annotations are extracted automatically from the opinions in the Syfert caselaw corpus and ranked by authority, recency, and treatment. Dots show Syfertize treatment of the citing case itself.