Jurisdiction of the Justices of the Peace to Sentence

Members of the Magistrates Association of the State of Washington have reported difficulty in ascertaining the extent of their power to impose sentences on persons found guilty of certain offenses because of an apparent conflict in the statutory law of Washington. In order to resolve this difficulty it is necessary to distinguish between the power of a Justice of the Peace to hear and determine a particular case and his power to impose sentence upon a finding of guilty.