Washington

The Office of Public Defense advisory committee is composed of 13 members. The chief justice of the supreme court appoints three members. The governor appoints two non-attorneys. The president of the senate appoints two senators, one from each of the two largest caucuses. The speaker of the house of representatives appoints two house members, one from each of the two largest caucuses. The court of appeals executive committee appoints one member; the Washington State Bar Association appoints one member; the Washington State Association of Counties appoints one member; and the Association of Washington Cities appoints one member.

Through the Public Defense Improvement Program, the Office of Public Defense (OPD) manages and distributes appropriated funds to counties and cities for the improvement of trial level criminal indigent defense services for both adults and juveniles. For counties, the amount of funding received depends on a statutory funding formula. For cities, OPD establishes criteria for awards of grants after soliciting input from the Association of Washington Cities. Counties and cities may, but are not required, to apply for this state funding. To receive this funding, each applying county or city must require attorneys providing indigent defense services to attend certain trainings and must report certain information to the OPD, including public defense expenditures and caseload data.

Yes, the Office of Public Defense also funds and administers the following programs

• The Youth Access to Counsel Program, which provides 24/7 legal consultation services to youth who are detained by police; 
• The Blake Program, which provides funding and resources to assist counties with defense costs for resentencing hearings and obtaining vacate orders for eligible people previously charged with simple drug possession and eligible for relief per State v. Blake;  
• The Simple Possession Advocacy and Representation Program, which provides funding and resources to assist smaller-sized counties with representation of indigent individuals charged with Washington’s new simple drug possession law.  

Counties may, but are not required to, submit petitions for relief to the Office of Public Defense (OPD) for reimbursement of extraordinary criminal justice costs, which are generally those associated with aggravated murder cases. These costs are not limited to public defense, but rather include all county-level expenditures associated with such cases (prosecution, courts, jails, etc.). OPD, in consultation with the Washington Association of Prosecuting Attorneys and the Washington Association of Sheriffs and Police Chiefs, develops procedures for processing and prioritizing petitions. The legislature appropriated funds for this program from 1999-2014; however, the legislature has not appropriated any funds for this program since 2015.

Counties and cities may come together and establish a public defender district served by a public defender office or establish such agencies for their jurisdictions unilaterally. The participating local governments must appoint a selection committee to select a full-time or part-time public defender. The selection committee must consist of one member of each board of county commissioners, one member of the superior court from each county, and one practicing attorney from each county.

The Washington supreme court issues rules and standards related to indigent defense. General Rule 42 safeguards the independence of public defense services from judicial influence or control by prohibiting judges or judicial staff from selecting public defense administrators or attorneys and from managing or overseeing public defense services. As for standards, the supreme court has issued standards to address certain basic elements of public defense practice such as caseloads, overhead costs, investigators, and attorney qualifications. These standards apply to any attorney appointed by the court to provide indigent defense services at the trial level in juvenile delinquency, adult criminal cases, or civil commitment cases.

Yes, the Washington State Bar Association’s (WSBA) Council on Public Defense (CPD) brings together various criminal justice officials to discuss impacts on the public defense system. CPD also issues standards, approved by the WSBA’s Board of Governors, that serve as a guide to cities and counties in adopting their own indigent defense standards.  

In addition, the Washington Defender Association (WDA) is a membership organization for the public defense community in the state, which is funded in part by state funds. WDA provides training and technical assistance to indigent defense providers. 

The Office of Public Defense is an independent agency of the judicial branch of Washington’s state government.