OLYMPIA…Sen. Mike Hewitt, R-16^th District, worked to keep the joint law library between Benton and Franklin counties operational and open for patron use by sponsoring Senate Bill 5701, which was signed into law by the governor today.

“These two counties had an agreement to jointly operate the law library and did a great job doing it,” said Hewitt, the Senate Republican whip. “The law was going to force them to change, costing both counties more money.”

Washington laws required counties of a specific size to operate its own law library for citizens. Having their population grow quickly in the last few years, Benton and Franklin counties were going to have to end their partnership in order to operate separate law libraries.

“It didn’t make any sense,” Hewitt said. “We had a perfectly good system in place. If it wasn’t broken, why change it? This new law will continue to allow Benton and Franklin counties to provide better customer service to their citizens.

“The joint law library has better hours and services than most state law libraries because of this special agreement,” Hewitt added.

Hewitt attended the governor’s signing today, along with Benton County Commissioner Leo Bowman and other area representatives.

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For further information contact Bert Mills at (360) 786-7510 or mills_be@leg.wa.gov