The Seattle Animal Shelter (SAS) is a department funded by the City of Seattle under the authority of the Seattle Municipal Code (SMC) Title 9. As it turns out, SAS is an atypical and increasingly uncommon animal services provider in King County.
The Revised Code of Washington (RCW) 39.34 allows Counties to negotiate certain “interlocal” contracts with incorporated cities within its jurisdiction. Cities can receive various services from the counties without the headaches of administering the agreements.
This is how it works.
Like your streaming subscriptions, the county will offer a menu of services. The city selects the services it wants, and and negotiates the terms of the agreement. The city makes payments and the county administers the contract, providing the needed services. Examples of contracts a city may outsource this way are flood control resources, wastewater management, services for the homeless, District Court services, purchasing agreements, recycling, and fire departments. RCW 39.34. Another service a city may outsource its animal services and shelter needs.
As of 2023, 24 cities in King County have done this. Not only does the city’s council need to negotiate the terms and cost of the service, it must agree to eliminate its animal control code and adopt KCC Title 11: Animal Services. (There appears to be some areas where a city may retain control of certain aspects of animal control such as licensing; these will require narrowly tailored city ordinances).
However, every time Title 11 is updated, cities are required to update local ordinances to reflect the changes and ensure they align with the County’s laws. For example, Title 11 was updated in early 2023, and Bellevue completed its parallel update in late 2023. See Bellevue Animal Services for the latest council changes to Chapter 8: Animal Care and Control. For an example of an Interlocal Animal Services contract, see the Shoreline Interlocal Agreement.
Because there are so many cities participating in the Regional Animal Services System, management has been split into regions for easier administration. For example, the Northern region includes Carnation, Redmond and Shoreline; the Eastern district covers Bellevue, North Bend and Snoqualmie; and the Southern district includes SeaTac, Black Diamond and Enumclaw. In the contracts, the County created a Joint City-County Collaboration Committee that consists of three appointed representatives from King County and one from each city in the RAS program. Member cities can attend twice-yearly meetings to discuss service costs, revenue, and other terms of the Interlocal Agreements. Committee members may form subcommittees to study ideas and make recommendations to RAS.
Pierce County and Tacoma have a similar arrangement with the non-profit Humane Society of Pierce County. For comparison, here is the Interlocal Agreement for animal services, courtesy of the Municipal Research and Services Center: Pierce County's Animal Services
A tip to curious researchers: the author assumed these agreements were submitted to King County Records and uploaded to the Records portal, like most contracts. Since these agreements are negotiated and updated by city governments, they are treated as quasi-legislation and kept with local government documents in city archives. Look for Interlocal Agreements at the City Clerk’s site, the Council’s homepage or run a search for “interlocal” at the City’s homepage.