Washington State

Office of the Attorney General

Attorney General

Nick Brown

AG questions derailment data, emergency plan for Vancouver oil terminal

OLYMPIA — The Attorney General’s Office today filed comments in the environmental review of a proposed crude oil terminal in Vancouver. The comments, filed by the AGO’s Counsel for the Environment, question whether the risk of train derailment may be higher than the current estimate and raises concerns that the state of first responder readiness to address potential oil spills and fires is not sufficiently understood.

AG prosecutors keep dangerous sex offender at Special Commitment Center

MOUNT VERNON — A Skagit County jury has determined that sex offender Gregory Coley is a dangerous predator and must remain confined in the state’s Special Commitment Center on McNeil Island. In the interest of public safety, prosecutors from Attorney General Bob Ferguson’s Sexually Violent Predator (SVP) Unit have been fighting since 2013 to prevent Coley’s release into the community.

Kirkland car dealer to pay penalties for deceptive mailers

Claimed cars were subject to recall, appeared to be official notices

SEATTLE — Attorney General Bob Ferguson today announced that Kirkland car dealership will pay $74,000 to resolve allegations it sent out thousands of promotional mailers mimicking official recall notices.

Rairdon’s Dodge Chrysler Jeep of Kirkland agreed to pay $35,125 in civil penalties and $39,210 in costs and fees, for a total of $74,435.

AG prosecutors seek to prevent unconditional release of Skagit County sex offender

MOUNT VERNON — Prosecutors from the Attorney General’s Sexually Violent Predator Unit (SVP) are in Skagit County, fighting to prevent a dangerous sex offender from being unconditionally released into the community. 

Gregory Coley, 36, has been convicted of one sexually violent offense — first-degree child molestation — as a juvenile in 1991.

AG calls on Legislature to enact one-year “cooling off” period from lobbying

OLYMPIA  Washington State Attorney General Bob Ferguson has proposed a bill to establish a one-year lobbying prohibition for former high-ranking state officials. The update to state ethics laws would also require disclosure of where former officials are employed after state service.

Under current law, many state officials and employees can leave a state job on Friday and start work on Monday as a lobbyist paid to influence former colleagues.