Public defender's office changes

Mason County Chief Public Defender Peter Jones told commissioners his office is about to be “hit by a train” thanks to updated Washington State Bar standards that “drastically” change attorney caseloads, which will affect how the county prosecutes and defends criminal cases.

At a March 24 briefing, Jones requested commissioners immediately form a committee to study the problem and begin implementing changes to the county’s criminal justice system.

“I think we need to start putting together a committee right now that figures out how to minimize the amount of cases that get filed,” Jones said.

The WSBA’s new standards, released March 7, are going to “effectively gut Mason County’s ability to utilize the current criminal system,” according to Jones’ report submitted to commissioners.

Currently, the public defender’s office has the equivalent of three full-time employees who handle felonies in superior court. District court is similar. Staffing comes from a mix of regular employees, contract attorneys with Sound Defenders and hourly attorneys.

Attorneys can only handle a certain number of cases a year, based on a “case credit” system that previously was mostly left up to the county.

The new rules will mandate how case limits are counted.

For example, felony-life without parole, is eight credits, felony-murder, is seven credits, felony-sex offense, is five credits.

Attorneys will be allotted a certain number of yearly credits according to a new time schedule that will be fully implemented by 2027.

By July 2025, attorneys are limited to 110 felony credits and 280 misdemeanor credits per year. Starting July 2026, numbers are reduced to 90 felony credits and 225 misdemeanor credits per year. Finally, in July 2027, the new limits will be 47 felony credits and 110 misdemeanor credits per year.

If the county’s caseload remains the same as 2023, this means by 2027 10.3 full-time equivalent felony attorneys and 11 full-time equivalent misdemeanors will be needed, according to Jones’ report.

“This is an extraordinary increase in our demand for defense attorneys,” the report says.

Jones told commissioners he’s already having a hard time finding and keeping staff at current levels.

“It is my belief that the WSBA analysis is deeply, deeply flawed. These standards constitute more than three times the number of attorneys needed. That means that, in order to deal with a crisis in supply, the WSBA has decided to increase demand. Certain Economics 101 principles lead me to believe that this will not represent a solution to the crises,” Jones wrote.

Mason County Prosecuting Attorney Michael Dorcy did a lot to “chop” the number of cases filed in 2023, Jones said.

“Under our current system, there’s going to be a difficulty chopping further,” Jones told commissioners.

Dorcy also spoke at the briefing, saying it was “necessary to start planning.” He said his own office was short-staffed by at least three deputy prosecutors.

“I never want to be in a position of saying, ‘Here’s a category of cases we just don’t prosecute anymore.’ I’m not looking forward to that day,” Dorcy said, though it may come if staffing levels don’t change.

Jones and Dorcy said they are working together to figure out solutions.

Chief Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Tim Whitehead echoed Jones’ train analogy.

“This is a train that’s headed down the track. It’s going to hit us and it’s going to be bad,” he said.

Jones submitted a proposal that he said doesn’t fix matters, but limits damage.

Drug addiction has become the No. 1 driver behind crime, followed closely by mental health problems, Jones’ proposal states.

According to the proposal, criminal charges should be a last resort, and diversion into treatment must be tried first.

“The idea here is, in effect, to perform the functions of probation or a treatment-based sentence before the filing — or even the commission — of a crime,” the proposal states.

This will not be “a cheap proposition,” but neither is the massive expansion of the criminal justice system required by the revised WSBA standards, according to the proposal.

“That said, a single walk down Railroad Avenue in Shelton could identify several people in need of services. Putting in place outreach for them to receive services — housing, treatment, job training — in order to build their recovery capital and prevent the need/impulse for criminal activity could have several long-term benefits for this county that a criminal justice investment would not,” the proposal states.

Using the carrot-and-stick analogy for rewarding behavior, Jones said carrots should be tried first to get people to change, but when prosecutors reach for a stick “it had better be large and powerful.”

The new WSBA standards also increase requirements for investigators and create a new requirement for social workers that will bring a 350% budget increase by 2027 for the county if criminal cases stay at the 2023 level.

“This is going to hit every county hard,” Commissioner Sharon Trask said.

Commissioner Kevin Shutty said this issue is ripe for strategic litigation by the Washington State Association of Counties because the updated standards are essentially an unfunded mandate.

“This is certainly something that affects all 39 counties,” Shutty said.

“We need to be locked arm-in-arm to pursue any and all remedies at the legislative level, including utilizing the litigation fund that we’ve created as an association,” he said.

Commissioners asked Jones to head a planning committee that will include legislator representatives, superior and district court judges, Mason Health representatives, Commissioner Randy Neatherlin and a representative from the sheriff’s office.

“It’s going to be darn near catastrophic if something doesn’t change,” Dorcy said.