Public defense services

AN ACT Relating to public defense services; amending RCW 1
10.101.050, 10.101.060, and 10.101.070; adding a new section to 2
chapter 10.101 RCW; and adding a new section to chapter 2.56 RCW.3
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:4
Sec. 1. RCW 10.101.050 and 2005 c 157 s 3 are each amended to 5
read as follows: 6
(1) Beginning in fiscal year 2026, funding responsibility for 7
public defense services shall be shared by the state, counties, and 8
cities.9
(a) Beginning in fiscal year 2026, the state shall be responsible 10
for 50 percent of the cost of public defense services based on an 11
average of the actual expenditures for public defense services 12
reported, and paid for, by eligible counties for the previous five 13
years looking back from fiscal year 2024. Beginning in fiscal year 14
2026, eligible counties shall not be responsible for public defense 15
services costs that exceed this five-year average.16
(b) In fiscal year 2026 and thereafter, the state shall be 17
responsible for all public defense services costs that exceed the 18
five-year average set forth in this section.19
The Washington state office of public defense shall disburse 20
appropriated funds to eligible counties ((and cities )) for the 21
S-0533.1
SENATE BILL 5404
State of Washington 69th Legislature 2025 Regular Session
By Senators Trudeau, Lovick, Frame, Schoesler, Chapman, Goehner,
Hasegawa, Lovelett, Muzzall, Nobles, Saldaña, Salomon, Shewmake,
Valdez, Warnick, and J. Wilson
Read first time 01/21/25. Referred to Committee on Law & Justice.
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((purpose of improving the quality of public defense services )) costs 1
that exceed the five-year average set forth in this section 2
consistent with RCW 10.101.060(2) (a) through (d).3
(c) Any county funds supplanted by the funding distributions 4
described in this section that were previously spent on public 5
defense services may only be used for the following activities:6
(i) Pretrial or precharge diversion programs;7
(ii) Alternatives to incarceration;8
(iii) Reentry services for those exiting incarceration;9
(iv) Administrative expenditures related to the provision of 10
public defense services including, but not limited to:11
(A) Information technology;12
(B) Human resources;13
(C) Office space;14
(D) Other indirect costs;15
(v) Behavioral health facilities and services;16
(vi) Costs of developing affordable and supportive housing, 17
consistent with eligible activities outlined in RCW 82.14.540;18
(vii) Other activities as approved by the Washington state office 19
of public defense. ((Counties))20
(2) Eligible counties may apply for up to their pro rata share as 21
set forth in RCW 10.101.060 provided that counties conform to 22
application procedures established by the office of public defense 23
and improve the quality of services for both juveniles and adults. 24
((Cities may apply for moneys pursuant to the grant program set forth 25
in RCW 10.101.080.))26
(3) In order to receive funds, each ((applying)) county ((or 27
city)) must ((require that attorneys providing public defense 28
services attend training approved by the office of public defense at 29
least once per calendar year. Each applying county or city shall 30
report)):31
(a) Report the expenditure for all public defense services in the 32
previous calendar year, as well as case statistics for that year, 33
including per attorney caseloads, and shall provide a copy of each 34
current public defense contract to the office of public defense 35
((with its application. Each individual or organization that 36
contracts to perform public defense services for a county or city 37
shall report to the county or city));38
(b) Require public defense lawyers to keep and report hours 39
worked on each public defense case. The county shall collect data of 40
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assigned and resolved cases and annually report to the office of 1
public defense and the Washington state bar association the (i) 2
number of assigned and resolved cases of each case type consistent 3
with appendix B of the Washington state bar association indigent 4
defense standards, and (ii) average number of billable attorney hours 5
spent on resolved cases of each type. The office of public defense 6
shall create forms consistent with the collection of necessary data 7
and regularly use the billable hour data to review and reconsider the 8
categorization of each case type included in appendix B of the 9
Washington state bar association indigent defense standards;10
(c) Designate a public defense coordinator who shall serve as the 11
primary contact between the county and the office of public defense. 12
The public defense coordinator shall be a lawyer with public defense 13
experience. Cities and counties are encouraged to work together and 14
with the office of public defense to create public defense districts, 15
if needed, consistent with RCW 36.26.020.16
(4) Cities may apply for moneys pursuant to the grant program set 17
forth in RCW 10.101.080. In order to receive funds, each applying 18
city must require that attorneys providing public defense services 19
attend training approved by the office of public defense at least 20
once per calendar year. Each applying city shall report the 21
expenditure for all public defense services in the previous calendar 22
year, as well as case statistics for that year, including per 23
attorney caseloads, and shall provide a copy of each current public 24
defense contract to the office of public defense with its 25
application. Each individual or organization that contracts to 26
perform public defense services for a city shall report to the city 27
hours billed for nonpublic defense legal services in the previous 28
calendar year, including number and types of private cases.29
Sec. 2. RCW 10.101.060 and 2005 c 157 s 4 are each amended to 30
read as follows: 31
(1)(((a) Subject to the availability of funds appropriated for 32
this purpose, the )) The office of public defense shall disburse to 33
((applying)) all counties that meet the requirements of RCW 34
10.101.050 designated funds under this chapter on a pro rata basis 35
pursuant to the formula set forth in RCW 10.101.070 and shall 36
disburse to eligible cities, funds pursuant to RCW 10.101.080.37
(2) Any county with a population density of less than 50 persons 38
per square mile may request that the office of public defense assume 39
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responsibility for providing all or a designated portion of the 1
public defense services for defendants appearing in a court under the 2
county's jurisdiction. If the office of public defense determines 3
that it has the capacity to provide these services on behalf of the 4
county: 5
(a) The office of public defense must notify the county of its 6
decision to accept the request within 180 days.7
(b) The county's pro rata share of funding described in RCW 8
10.101.070 shall be retained by the office of public defense for the 9
purposes of delivering public defense services within the county. The 10
office of public defense may designate employees of the department or 11
contract with external legal counsel to deliver public defense 12
services within the county.13
(c) The office of public defense, at its discretion and 14
consistent with standards for the provision of indigent defense 15
services as endorsed by the Washington state bar association, may 16
establish service delivery standards, support staffing, and 17
administrative functions to facilitate the effective delivery of 18
public defense services within the county.19
(d) The county shall contribute funds in an amount equal to its 20
responsibility for public defense services within its jurisdiction as 21
described in RCW 10.101.050 toward the delivery of public defense 22
services by the office of public defense within its jurisdiction.23
(3) Each fiscal year for which it receives state funds under this 24
chapter, a county or city must annually document to the office of 25
public defense that it is meeting the standards for provision of 26
indigent defense services as endorsed by the Washington state bar 27
association or that the funds received under this chapter have been 28
used to make appreciable demonstrable improvements in the delivery of 29
public defense services((, including the following:30
(i) Adoption by ordinance of a legal representation plan that 31
addresses the factors in RCW 10.101.030. The plan must apply to any 32
contract or agency providing indigent defense services for the county 33
or city;34
(ii) Requiring attorneys who provide public defense services to 35
attend training under RCW 10.101.050;36
(iii) Requiring attorneys who handle the most serious cases to 37
meet specified qualifications as set forth in the Washington state 38
bar association endorsed standards for public defense services or 39
participate in at least one case consultation per case with office of 40
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public defense resource attorneys who are so qualified. The most 1
serious cases include all cases of murder in the first or second 2
degree, persistent offender cases, and class A felonies. This 3
subsection (1)(a)(iii) does not apply to cities receiving funds under 4
RCW 10.101.050 through 10.101.080; 5
(iv) Requiring contracts to address the subject of compensation 6
for extraordinary cases;7
(v) Identifying funding specifically for the purpose of paying 8
experts (A) for which public defense attorneys may file ex parte 9
motions, or (B) which should be specifically designated within a 10
public defender agency budget;11
(vi) Identifying funding specifically for the purpose of paying 12
investigators (A) for which public defense attorneys may file ex 13
parte motions, and (B) which should be specifically designated within 14
a public defender agency budget.15
(b) The cost of providing counsel in cases where there is a 16
conflict of interest shall not be borne by the attorney or agency who 17
has the conflict)). The office of public defense may create standards 18
to determine the eligibility of counties and cities requesting funds.19
(((2))) (4) The office of public defense shall monitor trial 20
level public defense services to determine eligibility of counties 21
and cities to receive state funds under this chapter. ((If a 22
determination is made that a county or city receiving state funds 23
under this chapter did not substantially comply with this section, 24
the office of public defense shall notify the county or city of the 25
failure to comply and unless the county or city contacts the office 26
of public defense and substantially corrects the deficiencies within 27
ninety days after the date of notice, or some other mutually agreed 28
period of time, the county's or city's eligibility to continue 29
receiving funds under this chapter is terminated. If an applying 30
county or city disagrees with the determination of the office of 31
public defense as to the county's or city's eligibility, the county 32
or city may file an appeal with the advisory committee of the office 33
of public defense within thirty days of the eligibility 34
determination. The decision of the advisory committee is final )) The 35
office of public defense shall create data collection criteria and 36
reporting forms to ensure consistent statewide data and application.37
(5) The moneys under RCW 10.101.050 shall be distributed to each 38
county and city determined to be eligible under this section by the 39
office of public defense. 40
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Sec. 3. RCW 10.101.070 and 2005 c 157 s 5 are each amended to 1
read as follows: 2
The moneys shall be distributed to each county determined to be 3
eligible to receive moneys by the office of public defense as 4
determined under this section. ((Ninety percent of the funding 5
appropriated)) Beginning in fiscal year 2026 and in each year 6
thereafter, the state shall appropriate to the office of public 7
defense funds necessary to comply with RCW 10.101.050. These funds 8
shall be designated as "county moneys" and shall be distributed as 9
follows: 10
(1) ((Six percent of the county moneys appropriated shall be 11
distributed as a base allocation among the eligible counties. A 12
county's base allocation shall be equal to this six percent divided 13
by the total number of eligible counties.14
(2) Ninety-four percent of the )) The county moneys appropriated 15
shall be distributed among the eligible counties as follows:16
(a) Fifty percent of this amount shall be distributed on a pro 17
rata basis to each eligible county based upon the population of the 18
county as a percentage of the total population of all eligible 19
counties; and 20
(b) Fifty percent of this amount shall be distributed on a pro 21
rata basis to each eligible county based upon the annual number of 22
criminal cases filed in the county superior court as a percentage of 23
the total annual number of criminal cases filed in the superior 24
courts of all eligible counties. 25
(2) Beginning in fiscal year 2027 and each year thereafter, the 26
county moneys appropriated shall be distributed among the eligible 27
counties on a pro rata basis based upon the annual number of cases 28
filed in courts under the county's jurisdiction for which a public 29
defender was assigned.30
(3) Under this section: 31
(a) The population of the county is the most recent number 32
determined by the office of financial management; 33
(b) The annual number of criminal cases filed in the county 34
superior court is determined by the most recent annual report of the 35
courts of Washington, as published by the office of the administrator 36
for the courts; 37
(c) ((Distributions and eligibility for distributions in the 38
2005-2007 biennium shall be based on 2004 figures for the annual 39
number of criminal cases that are filed as described under (b) of 40
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this subsection. Future distributions shall be based on the most 1
recent figures for the annual number of criminal cases that are filed 2
as described under (b) of this subsection )) The annual number of 3
cases filed in courts under the county's jurisdiction for which a 4
public defender was assigned is determined by the most recent annual 5
report of the courts of Washington, as published by the office of the 6
administrator for the courts. 7
NEW SECTION. Sec. 4. A new section is added to chapter 10.101 8
RCW to read as follows: 9
The office of public defense shall: 10
(1) Examine and make recommendations to reduce trial level public 11
defense caseloads and backlogs; 12
(2) Require counties to report to the office of public defense 13
the number of accused who are unrepresented because of a shortage of 14
qualified lawyers; 15
(3) Make recommendations to increase retention of experienced 16
public defenders in high-need counties; and 17
(4) Report findings and recommendations to the appropriate fiscal 18
and policy committees of the legislature not later than December 1, 19
2026. 20
NEW SECTION. Sec. 5. A new section is added to chapter 2.56 RCW 21
to read as follows: 22
The office of the administrator for the courts shall collect data 23
in a manner consistent with the responsibilities outlined in chapter 24
2.68 RCW detailing the number of cases assigned a public defender and 25
shall include in its annual report of the courts of Washington the 26
total number of such cases in each county and city.27
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