Washington § 2.32.050 - Powers and duties of court clerks.

The clerk of the supreme court, each clerk of the court of appeals, and each clerk of a superior court, has power to take and certify the proof and acknowledgment of a conveyance of real property, or any other written instrument authorized or required to be proved or acknowledged, and to administer oaths in every case when authorized by law; and it is the duty of the clerk of the supreme court, each clerk of the court of appeals, and of each county clerk for each of the courts for which he or she is clerk:

(1) To keep the seal of the court and affix it in all cases where he or she is required by law;

(2) To record the proceedings of the court;

(3) To keep the records, files, and other books and papers appertaining to the court;

(4) To file all papers delivered to him or her for that purpose in any action or proceeding in the court as directed by court rule or statute;

(5) To attend, either in person or electronically if the proceeding is virtual, the court of which he or she is clerk, to administer oaths, and receive the verdict of a jury in any action or proceeding therein, in the presence and under the direction of the court;

(6) To keep the minutes of the proceedings of the court, and, under the direction of the court, to enter its orders, judgments, and decrees;

(7) To authenticate by certificate or transcript, as may be required, the records, files, or proceedings of the court, or any other paper appertaining thereto and filed with him or her;

(8) To exercise the powers and perform the duties conferred and imposed upon him or her elsewhere by statute;

(9) In the performance of his or her duties to conform to the direction of the court;

(10) To publish notice of the procedures for inspection of the public records of the court.

Rules of court: SAR 16.

Finding—Intent—2021 c 122: "The legislature finds that the ability of county elected officials to fulfill their statutory responsibilities through continued conduct of essential functions and services during the current COVID-19 pandemic and potential future public health crises requires updating, and at times temporary waiver, of these requirements in statute. The legislature intends to update the manner in which services may be provided; maintaining access and opportunity. In addition, the legislature intends to clarify the conditions under which waiver or suspension of specific statutes may be assumed by county elected officials in order to eliminate temporary barriers to continuity of operations." [ 2021 c 122 s 1.]