The City of Seattle is responsible for providing indigent defense services
to people charged with misdemeanor and gross misdemeanor crimes who meet certain
financial eligibility criteria. Seattle has one of the finest public defense
systems in the nation and has the lowest caseload of any jurisdiction in the
state of Washington. In fact, there are only a few other jurisdictions in
the country that have a lower caseload standard than the City. Since 1989,
Seattle has funded a caseload standard of 380 misdemeanor cases per attorney.
This is below the national standard of 400 misdemeanor cases per attorney,
as well as King County ’s standard of 450 cases per attorney. Seattle
is also one of the few jurisdictions to provide public defense attorneys at
all first-appearance hearings.
Prior to 2004, the City contracted with King County, which
in turn contracted with three nonprofit public defense agencies
to provide public defense services at Seattle Municipal Court.
This model provided little accountability and resulted in system
inefficiencies.
The City has saved $1 million annually since it started contracting directly
with public defense agencies (rather than going through King County ). Seattle
currently contracts with two nonprofit law firms to provide public defense
services and is in the process of issuing new contracts through the Request
for Proposals (RFP) process.
Seattle is seeking to contract directly with a single nonprofit law firm
to handle approximately 90 percent of the total case load (6,460 cases) and
be the primary public defender for the City. In addition, Seattle is seeking
to contract with a second nonprofit law firm to handle approximately 10 percent
of the case load (760 cases), comprised mainly of cases for which the primary
firm has a conflict of interest. Responses to the City’s Request
for Proposals, which were due Aug. 23, 2007, are now being evaluated by the
RFP Review Panel. Executive staff conferred with the King County Bar Association
on the selection of panel members. The following people have agreed to serve
on the RFP Review Panel:
- The Honorable Donald Haley, King County Superior Court (retired)
- Anne Harper, attorney, Snohomish County Public Defender (Previously, Ms.
Harper was the King County Public Defender, a District Court Commissioner,
and also spent 14 years as a public defender)
- George Bianchi, attorney (nominated by the King County Bar Association
to serve on the panel)
- Regina LaBelle, Counsel to the Mayor
- Bob Scales, Office of Policy and Management
The review panel requires a mix of individuals with criminal justice and
defense experience, as well as contractual and administrative experience. In
a review of five other King County cities that choose their own public defense
firms, Seattle is the only one with a 50-50 split between outside members and
city staff on its review panel. In three King County cities, the selection
panel is made up entirely of city employees. And in two other cities, there
is a single individual on the panel who is not a city employee.
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