County looks to state for financial help on Eakin and Savoie cases

EPHRATA — Grant County authorities are projecting a high cost with one of their most high-profile murder cases, and are hoping the State of Washington will help them pay those bills.

In a meeting of local state legislators and the Grant County Commissioners Wednesday, the commissioners publicly asked for their support in getting more than $300,000 in funding specifically for the trials of two Grant County boys who are accused of killing a 13-year-old

boy in February 2003.

Jake Eakin and Evan Savoie are being charged in the murder of 13-year-old Craig Sorger in February of 2003. Eakin and Savoie were 12 years old at the time of the crime, and are accused of beating and stabbing Sorger to death in Oasis Park in Ephrata.

The commissioner publicly asked for the help of the legislators from the 12th and 13th districts in getting money from the Washington State Office of Public Defense. The money is available for specific cases through the Extraordinary Criminal Justices Act, which allows for

counties to request reimbursement for the cost of aggravated murder cases.

"The citizens of Grant County need your help," Commissioner Deborah Moore told the legislators during the meeting.

The commissioner had a rough estimate that the Eakin and Savoie trials would cost in excess of $325,000 for the 2004 year. That cost, however, does not include the cost for law enforcement in the case. A projected cost worksheet also included estimates for the case for 2005, which Moore said the commission will be applying for as well. The 2005 projected cost, which includes for a possible change of venue in the case, come out

at just under $500,000.

To begin the meeting, Commissioner LeRoy Allison said the county went through a really tough budgeting process for the 2004 budget, but they were able to adopt a balanced budget. He said that a large amount of its law reserve monies were used to balance that budget.

Allison also spoke about the pending litigations regarding the county's

indigent defense costs. A recent case involving the charge of "driving while license suspended" has also impacted the county's district court funds. The county's recent hiring freeze was also discussed, and the commission said that about 10 positions have become vacant since it was implemented in May.

Grant County does not technically qualify for the funds because the two boys have not been charged with aggravated murder. In a letter to the legislators, the commissioners cite a Pacific County case in a similar situation. The letter states: "Last year, Pacific County submitted a

request for funding for a case that did not technically qualify for assistance under the Extraordinary Criminal Justice Act. However, because it was a high-profile, high-cost case, and because the local officials and their legislators were tenacious, they were able to secure special

funding in the state supplemental budget to help defray the extraordinary costs."

State Representatives from the 13th District Bill Hinkle and Janea Holmquist and 13th District Sen. Joyce Mulliken all attended the meeting and 12th District Senator Linda Parlette was on hand for part of the meeting by phone.

"You definitely don't have to sell it to us that it's extraordinary," Holmquist said during the meeting.

Hinkle told the commissioners that he was going to need more specific numbers in order to take this to the legislature, and Moore replied that when they submit the forms to the state they will be

specific. Moore added that she would have hard numbers by the Dec. 3 deadline.

The county and the legislature also discussed several other options to help the county financially, specifically Hinkle brought up proposing local-option sales taxes. Both parties also talked about changing language in legislation for local-option sales taxes so that the tax

revenue could go directly to criminal justice funds. Currently tax revenue from one such local-option sales tax can only be used for new projects relating to criminal justice. Moore said that the option tax doesn't make sense to pass for new programs when the county itself

can't fund basic services.

"We don't need it for new projects," Commissioner Tim Snead said during the meeting, "we need it to survive."

Hinkle said that part of the group's strategy should be to change the language in the law so the voters can decide for funding for local option sales taxes.

The meeting's audience included more than a dozen of the county's top elected officials and employees.

Superior Court Judge Evan Sperline told the legislators that there would

be a substantial impact to the county's court system to prosecute the Eakin and Savoie cases. Sperline said that as a small county, if Grant County devotes one of its three judges to those trials for approximately four weeks per trial, it would be like taking 20 judges away from

Seattle's King County.

"If I go to a meeting for a day," Sperline said, "that's the same as 20 judges from King County going to a meting for a day."

Deputy County Prosecutor Steve Hallstrom said that Grant County is among the highest in the state with regard to its criminal case load. He said that with the Eakin and Savoie cases, his office is prosecuting two of the youngest kids in the state. He added that with media coverage of this murder, the heightened scrutiny makes everyone more careful.

Warren Swanson, who is the administrator of Grant County Juvenile Court, said his office has not been able to fill a position this year, and likely won't be able to fill it next year either. Eakin and Savoie are being held in the county's juvenile facility, and Swanson said the cost per inmate is about

$100 per day. He said also that as of Wednesday, 30 kids were in his 18-bed facility on with two rooms occupied by Eakin and Savoie.

"Those are two rooms that have been out of use in our facility for 21 months now," Swanson said.

Moore said after the meeting that the commission is optimistic that the local legislators will use their influence to approve funding for the two cases. She said the commissioners just wanted to give the local legislators a feel for what these two cases could potentially cost for

Grant County.