Subscriber Rules

All people shall have free use of the Law Library. The Law Library maintains an annual subscription plan for those who wish to borrow books from the Law Library, who agree to be bound by the following rules and conditions, and who qualify for one of the categories described below.

1. Those who may borrow books are:

a. Attorney Subscribers: to qualify for this category, the sole practitioner, law firm, legal partnership or corporation must:

  • Maintain an office in Washington state.
  • File a proper application.
  • Pay the non-refundable annual subscription fee of $100.00 for each King County attorney employee of the business.
  • Follow all rules of the Law Library.

b. Government Subscribers: to qualify for this category, the subscriber must:

  • Be an employee of a city, county, state or federal government office located in King County, or a judge of a court located in King County. Government subscribers are not required to pay an annual  subscription fee to borrow books needed for work purposes.
  • File a proper application.
  • Follow all rules of the Law Library.

c. Resident Subscribers: to qualify for this category, the subscriber must be:

  • An individual residing in King County who is not an attorney, or an agent or employee of an attorney borrowing books needed for work purposes:
  • File a proper application.
  • Pay the non-refundable annual subscription fee of $100.00.
  • Limit borrowing to one item at a time.
  • Follow all rules of the Law Library.

d. Exempted Organizations: to qualify for this category, the subscriber must:

  • Be a non-profit organization or governmental entity whose mission or service includes providing legal services to indigent persons, or be a member of the Alliance for Equal Justice, or be the staff of a non-profit bar association with an office in Washington state. Exempted Organizations are not required to pay an annual subscription fee to borrow books needed for work purposes.
  • File a proper application.
  • Follow all rules of the Law Library.

2. All items must be checked out in the name of an individual authorized to check out materials for the account. No subscriber may remove materials from the Library for the use of any person or entity not a subscriber. The subscription account holder is responsible for all fines and charges incurred by the authorized individuals.

3. Loan Period: Loan periods are two weeks for circulating items. Items may not be renewed. A subscriber must wait one business day before being able to check that item out again. The loan period for archived materials is 24 hours. Some items, at the discretion of the Library, cannot be checked out.

4. Fines and Charges: A fine of $1.00 per day shall be charged for each overdue item. The subscription account will be billed for all fines and charges as they are incurred. Subscribers who have not returned library materials that have been overdue for 30 days will incur a lost book fee equal to the replacement cost of the book and processing fees. If a subscriber returns a lost item before payment of the replacement cost of the item, an overdue fee of $30.00 per item will be substituted for the lost book fee. If a subscriber returns a lost item within six months after payment of the replacement cost, the subscriber will receive a refund of the replacement fee amount paid less processing fees.

5. Suspension and Termination:

a. Subscription privileges cease when a subscriber no longer qualifies under Rule 1.

b. When the total amount of a subscriber’s unpaid fines and charges incurred under Rule 4 equals or exceeds $50.00, the subscription account privileges of that subscriber will be suspended. Suspended accounts may be reinstated upon receipt of payment for all outstanding fines and charges.

c. A subscriber who flagrantly or persistently violates the subscription rules shall have their subscriber privileges suspended or terminated.

6. The subscription fee is an annual non-refundable fee.

You may download a PDF version of these rules here. (last updated 05.25.2017)