This manual is unlike other manuals of its type. Most legal manuals are merely compilations of applicable laws, sewn together with brief analysis. The focus of this manual is on analysis of the law. The goal has been to explain the law in easy-to-understand, non-technical language. The text is the result of careful and comprehensive legal research, professional legal review and committee deliberation. Most of the laws that are analyzed in the text (e.g., statutes and constitutional provisions) are referenced by links to relevant websites.

We have endeavored to make the analysis "reader friendly." Therefore, technical jargon and extensive quotations of statutes or court cases has been avoided, whenever possible. We have also supplemented the text with exhibits (charts, maps and forms), and used annotations and symbols to direct you to related sections. This manual is extensively indexed and includes appendices, which reference the narrative. All of these features are explained in greater detail below.

These sections can be found throughout the manual and will provide helpful hints in dealing with legal requirements.

On occasion, a topic may require extensive analysis in order to support thorough legal advice. To assure that the Legal Manual is first and foremost useful to non-lawyers, these comprehensive explanations are distinguished from more general topics.

The law is not a static body of knowledge. New laws are passed by local, state and federal assemblies throughout each year and the body of common law is continually revised by court decisions. Therefore, this manual will require periodic revision.

On an annual basis, you will receive updates to this manual. The revisions will be designed to replace pages in the manual in a manner that maintains the integrity of the narrative. Each update will be dated to inform you of its currency.

The table of contents provides links to all the headings of chapters, sections, and sub-sections. It will also be updated annually to incorporate section revisions.

This manual chapters are organized in the following manner:

The Introduction provides an overview of the manual, explains its purposes, and describes how to get the most out of the manual's unique features. This section also includes an overview of the American legal system and the sources of law.

Chapter One is entitled "Public Hospital Districts — Purpose, Formation, Maintenance, and Dissolution." This chapter discusses the nature of public hospital districts: how they operate as governmental entities, how they are created, how they are expanded or shrunk, and how they can be dissolved. It also explores the powers and limitations of special purpose districts generally as well as public hospital districts specifically. Much of Chapter One analyzes the statutory provision which creates, and confers powers upon, public hospital districts — chapter 70.44 RCW.

Chapter Two is entitled "Persons of a Hospital District — Boards, Superintendents, Management, Employees, and Medical Staff." This chapter discusses the laws surrounding governance, staffing and contracting. In addition, there is analysis of legal compensation, code of ethics and conflicts of interest.

Chapter Three is entitled "Public Hospital District Property" and therefore considers the legal issues surrounding "real" and "personal" property.

Chapter Four is entitled "Public Hospital District Finances: Revenues, Receipts and Audits." This chapter provides a legal review of hospital district taxes, patient revenues, borrowed funds and gifts.

Chapter Five is entitled "Meetings and Records" and details the legal requirements for holding public meetings, maintaining records and producing maps and various reports.

Chapter Six is entitled "Special Legal Issues" and will be further developed in future updates. These issues have been set aside for special in-depth analysis because they present particularly thorny legal questions and/or require a more detailed examination than can be given in the main text. This chapter will be continuously updated and new legal issues will be added as needed.

Each chapter begins with a brief chapter summary and, in most cases, each section within a chapter also begins with a brief overview of the topic of concern. These sections, in tandem with the table of contents, can give you a good idea of the types of topics addressed in this manual and the overall context in which these topics are treated.

Within each chapter you will find sections and sub-sections. These smaller units of text are listed in the table of contents and are labeled with headings in the margins of the text. We have endeavored as much as possible to make each section and sub-section an independent analysis of a legal point or series of legal points. That is, you will not have to read an entire chapter to appreciate the analysis contained in a small section. Of course, it is impossible to make every section and sub-section stand completely alone; the narrative is necessarily contextual. Wherever necessary, we have cross-referenced sections with other sections that should also be consulted to understand the "full story."