About MRSC

The Municipal Research and Services Center (MRSC) is a private, non-profit organization based in Seattle, Washington. Our mission is to promote excellence in Washington local government through professional consultation, research and information services. All of the information and research services described below are available free of charge to elected officials and staff of Washington city and county governments and public hospital districts. MRSC serves Washington local governments by providing: (1) Dependable advice from a multidisciplinary team of professional consultants; (2) A comprehensive Web site; (3) Access to thousands of sample documents; (4) Timely and informative print and electronic publications; and (5) Access to the largest local government library collection in the Northwest.

• MRSC Staff
• Board of Directors
• Frequently Asked Questions about MRSC
• History of MRSC
• Web Site Usage Statistics
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MRSC Services

Get Answers to Your Questions

• Submit a Research Request - Washington city, county and public hospital district officials (elected and/or staff) can call or e-mail MRSC free of charge for advice and information on local government issues. MRSC staff has extensive experience and expertise in municipal law, budget and finance, public administration, planning and growth management, public works and utilities, and other local government issues. You can reach MRSC toll free at 800.933.6772 or locally at 206.625.1300.
• Explore MRSC's Web Site - MRSC maintains one of the most comprehensive local government web sites in the U.S. Here are some of our most popular Web resources:

• Search or Browse our Inquiry Database - Here you can search by keyword or browse by subject through a collection of previous MRSC inquiry responses on a wide variety of topics. There's a good chance that someone has already asked the question you have.
• Do a Site Search - From this page you can perform multiple searches for sample documents, state statutes and administrative rules, court decisions, municipal codes and more. You can also do custom Google searches of Washington city and county Web sites.
• View or Download MRSC Publications - MRSC produces publications on a broad range of local government topics, including educational guidebooks as well as publications on emerging issues. Most of them can be viewed and downloaded directly from our web site.
• Look in the Library - MRSC's library contains the state's largest collection of local government reference documents, with over 12,000 volumes. See what's new in the library, stop by our reference desk, or search our library catalog. Once you find what you are looking for, you can submit an online library loan request and the loan items will be mailed to you.
• Search or Browse the MRSC Index - We have thousands of sample local government documents in our library files. On this page you can browse an index to MRSC's comprehensive electronic and paper document collection by subject or search the index by keyword.

Stay Informed

• Subscribe to our MRSC In Focus e-Newsletter - In Focus is a bi-weekly e-newsletter developed specifically for Washington local government policy makers and managers featuring a comprehensive overview of current local and national news, articles, and reports. This is a very good high level review of current research and information emanating from various state and national journal and news sources, professional organizations and policy think tanks. View a sample issue of In Focus.
• Subscribe to our Ask MRSC e-Newsletter - Ask MRSC is a monthly e-newsletter featuring answers to selected questions received by MRSC's consultant staff. It's one more way for you to stay informed on current issues affecting city and county government. View a sample issue of Ask MRSC.
• Subscribe to our Planning in Focus e-Newsletter - Planning in Focus is a monthly e-newsletter featuring selected planning related news and information from a wide variety of state and national sources, planning-related news clippings, MRSC inquiry responses, Planning Advisor articles, and much more. Be sure to get your Planning Commission members signed up too. View a sample issue of Planning in Focus.
• Subscribe to our Ask MRSC - Hospital District Edition e-Newsletter - Ask MRSC - Hospital District Edition is a monthly e-newsletter featuring answers to selected questions received by our consultant staff. It's one more way for you to stay informed on current issues affecting hospital districts. View a sample issue of Ask MRSC Hospital District Edition.
• Municipal Research News - View and/or download the current or archived editions of MRSC's printed newsletter in Adobe PDF. Municipal Research News is mailed on a quarterly basis to all Washington cities and towns.
• Read our Advisor Columns - MRSC had joined with a number of local government officials, consultants, and other subject-matter experts to bring you the HR, Council/Commission, Planning, Finance and Open Government Advisor series featuring timely articles on a wide variety of policy and legal issues affecting Washington local governments.
• Washington News Links - Selected local government related news stories from Washington newspapers archived by subject and month.
• National News Links - Selected local government related news stories from various national news sources archived by subject and month.
• Recent State Regulations from the Washington State Register - Selected highlights from recent issues of the Washington State Register. You may also search the complete text of recent issues of the Washington State Register (1997 - present) or use the index to the Register.
• Recent Attorney General Opinions - Selected recent formal opinions from the Attorney General's Office of interest to local government officials. The full text of these opinions can be found through the links below or at the Attorney General's Office Web site.
• Recent Washington State Court Decisions - Summaries of recent Washington State court decisions affecting cities, towns and counties.
•  Subscribe to MRSC's In Focus RSS Feed - This RSS feed is a convenient way to receive updates to the In Focus section of our Web site's home page including the lastest HR, Council/Commission, Finance, Planning, and Open Government Advisor columns.
•  Subscribe to MRSC's Local Government Press Release RSS Feed - This RSS feed is a convenient way to receive selected Washington city and county government press releases archived by subject and month.

MRSC Hosted Services

• MRSC Rosters - Shared Small Works / Consultants Roster - MRSC Rosters is a shared statewide small works and consultant roster system that 150 Washington State cities, counties and districts use to search for project bidders.
• MRSC Citizen Help Desk - MRSC's Citizen Help Desk application, available to Washington State cities and counties, offers a low-cost system for tracking citizen service requests.

If you have a question not covered by these topics, please send us an email.