Should a state regulator have unilateral ability to decide someone is breaking their rules, levy significant fines, and then control any appeal process without convincing a jury that they’re in the right? That question is what’s at stake in a legal battle between a generational Washington ranching family and a state regulator.
A Washington appellate court commissioner ruled Friday that the state Pollution Control Hearings Board can’t continue its fight to fine Wade and Teresa King, owners of a ranch based in the eastern part of the state, while the couple seeks out a jury trial to decide on the fines they face. The couple argues that the board alone can’t impose hundreds of thousands of dollars in fines on their ranch without first convincing a jury it can.
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Commissioner Hailey L. Landrus, in her ruling, said King Ranch faces “irreparable” harm in being subjected to “a hearing before a person whom they argue is an unconstitutional factfinder.”
The ruling doesn’t mean the Kings are granted a jury trial, but the state must pause its attempts to enforce the fines and further punish the ranch owners while the lawsuit winds its way through the courts.
The Department of Ecology argues that the King family isn’t owed a jury trial in a state administrative matter. The Kings appealed after a lower court dismissed their call for a pause.
“When the government seeks to penalize someone, it must prove its case to a jury in an independent court, not go after them in a setting where it is both judge and prosecutor,” said Pacific Legal Foundation attorney Allison Daniel, whose organization represents the ranchers.
What started the fight
The state Department of Ecology alleges King Ranch illegally excavated 23 areas within protected wetlands. It issued a quarter-million-dollar fine and further claims that “destruction of cultural resources” could result in criminal charges.
With sparse local water, cattle ranchers often dig small patches of land to let rainwater collect. The practice is legal, even on public lands, but the department alleges the King family dug out protected alkali wetlands home to migratory birds and several unique animal and plant species.
Ecology estimates the ranchers excavated 6.4 acres of wetland and damaged another 1.8 acres around them in the Coulee City area.
“The actions of King Ranch damaged wetlands, including rare alkaline wetlands, which are protected by Washington state law,” a Department of Ecology spokesperson previously told Straight Arrow. “Those actions resulted in a penalty from the Department of Ecology and an order to restore the wetlands. That penalty was appealed and the legal case is ongoing.”
Meanwhile, the King family says they’ve incurred $3.7 million in costs fighting the state.
The legal battle got the attention of Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins, who in November 2025 called the state’s efforts to punish the ranchers “egregious.”
Possible ripple effect
PLF contends that if successful, the King Ranch case would set the precedent that Washingtonians facing civil penalties from state agencies can defend themselves before a jury in an independent court.
Even if jury trials strike down a portion of the fines, the state could see a drop in revenue. The Department of Ecology alone levied more than $11.2 million in fines of more than $1,000 in 2025. That’s a serious increase from 2024, when it fined residents and businesses just $2.9 million. The department had nearly surpassed that amount in the first half of 2026.
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