Washington ranchers appeal dismissal of jury trial lawsuit
August 26, 2026
Spokane, Washington; August 26, 2026: A Washington ranching family fighting for the right to a jury trial filed an appeal yesterday after a judge dismissed their lawsuit against the state. Wade and Teresa King, owners of King Ranch in Grant and Douglas counties, are asking the Washington Court of Appeals to reverse the dismissal and to halt an administrative proceeding against them while their appeal is pending.
“The Kings deserve a jury of their peers before the government can fine them hundreds of thousands of dollars,” said Oliver Dunford, a senior attorney with Pacific Legal Foundation. “The court dismissed this case without ever asking whether the state can force people into a tribunal that has no power to give them that jury. We’re taking that question to the Court of Appeals.”
The Kings, to ensure water for their ranching operation, performed customary maintenance work on historical stockwater ponds located on their own land and on land they lease from the government for ranching. The Washington State Department of Ecology claims that the stockwater ponds are regulated wetlands and that the Kings’ routine maintenance violated the Washington Pollution Control Act. The Department has ordered the Kings to “restore” the stockwater ponds and assessed a $267,540 civil penalty. The total cost of compliance is estimated to exceed $3.7 million. Under Washington law, the Kings can challenge the orders only before the Pollution Control Hearings Board, an administrative tribunal with no mechanism for a jury trial.
On August 19, a Grant County Superior Court judge dismissed the case, ruling the Kings couldn’t file a lawsuit until the administrative process was over—without addressing whether the administrative process itself is unlawful because it deprives citizens of their right to a jury trial.
The Kings have asked the court of appeals to expedite review and postpone the PCHB proceeding so that their constitutional challenge may be heard before it’s too late.
Pacific Legal Foundation represents the Kings free of charge. The case is King Ranch v. Washington State Department of Ecology.
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About Pacific Legal Foundation
Pacific Legal Foundation is a national nonprofit law firm that defends Americans threatened by government overreach and abuse. Since our founding in 1973, we challenge the government when it violates individual liberty and constitutional rights. With active cases in 34 states plus Washington, D.C., PLF represents clients in state and federal courts, with 18 wins of 21 cases litigated at the U.S. Supreme Court.