Seahawks Case To Be Heard In King County, Court Rules

King County officials won home-court advantage Friday in their legal fight to keep the Seattle Seahawks from leaving town.

The state Supreme Court said King County Superior Court is the jurisdiction to decide if Seahawks owner Ken Behring can legally move his team to Southern California.

The two sides filed lawsuits within 30 minutes of each other on Feb. 2, a day after Behring informed King County officials that he intended to take the team to Southern California, contending the Kingdome was unsafe in an earthquake.

Seattle officials rushed to King County Superior Court to try to prevent the team from leaving immediately, while the Seahawks scurried to Kittitas County with their lawsuit in an effort to break their lease with the Kingdome. That lease runs for another 10 years.

The two sides had agreed to let Washington’s high court settle the jurisdiction question.

The high court, in a unanimous opinion, said that because a suit was first filed in King County, that’s where the case belonged. The court, however, noted that Behring is free to try to persuade a King County judge that he should have a change of venue to Kittitas County.

The issue could be moot if the team is sold.