Grant County claims compliance with public defender settlement
Commissioners working to meet ACLU conditions
EPHRATA — The Grant County commissioners contend a recent report about the public defense system highlights the county's success in achieving benchmarks and making continued improvements.
The system's progress in 2006 bodes well for this year, noted Commissioner Richard Stevens in an announcement Tuesday.
Stevens pointed to increased communication between attorneys and clients in 2006, enhanced attorney training, improved court-interpreter services, added resources for defense investigations and reduced client complaints.
"We enter this second year with a very good year's work under our belt, new management insights and experienced personnel," Stevens said.
In November 2005, Grant County settled a lawsuit with the American Civil Liberties Union of Washington and other parties alleging deficiencies in the public defense system. The settlement focused on improving the system, including a requirement to select a monitor to ensure the county implements the terms of the agreement.
The monitor, Seattle attorney Jeffery Robinson, provides quarterly reports about the system. If the county is not in compliance with the settlement, it is required to pay $100,000 annually for lack of performance.
Robinson's fourth-quarter report was released last week.
"The monitor has recognized the county's commitment throughout the year to improve the system and has found we are in compliance with the settlement agreement," Commissioner LeRoy Allison said.
The county is now seeking a waiver from a Kittitas County Superior Court judge on the $100,000 payment.
"The ACLU has concerns about the county's compliance with the agreement and has notified the monitor of our concerns," Doug Honig, ACLU spokesman in Seattle, said. "We are investigating and gathering facts and are working with the monitor."
Robinson's report noted a caseload backlog in Grant County Superior Court, stemming from a shortage of public defenders. Clients were qualifying for publicly-funded attorneys, but not getting one because the county's contracted defenders were already at caseload limits.
Robinson said the county was slow reacting to the need for attorneys to handle the backlogged cases. He said in his Jan. 31 report the county's failure to quickly provide counsel may have significant consequences for the prosecution of those cases.
The county, in effort to provide for all indigent clients, budgeted for seven public defenders in 2007, one more than last year. The county continues to search for the seventh contracted defender.
When it was apparent there were more cases than available public defenders, the county encountered problems finding temporary overflow attorneys.
Alan White, the public defender's supervisor, said there were no attorneys in Grant County willing and qualified to take on the cases.
The $75 per hour offered by the county was inadequate compensation for attracting qualified attorneys, White wrote in his monthly report to the commissioners and Robinson.
"It was not until the (commissioners) authorized me to offer $90 per hour, with payment at that rate for travel time, that I was able to locate two Wenatchee-area attorneys," White wrote in the Jan. 19 report.
Stevens said the search for attorneys was difficult because of the holidays and contract restraints.
"We understood the urgency of the situation and made a good faith effort to secure qualified legal counsel in a timely fashion, but it proved to be a more complicated challenge than expected," Stevens said.
The commissioners said they were surprised by some public defenders concerns about the quality of work by the county's contracted defense investigators.
Robinson wrote, "Among the concerns expressed were that investigators were not taking direction from the lawyers and that some investigators did not understand the defense function and were slow to understand or comply with the needs of a criminal defense lawyer preparing a case for potential trial or settlement."
Depending on future performance, there may be a need to change investigative firms, Robinson said. He added that some defenders complained about needing more investigators.
The commissioners said previous reports never mentioned issues with the quality of investigative services.
"This came out of the blue and is inconsistent with what we've heard and know of (the current firm)," said Allison.
Stevens said the current investigators are responsive and provide high-quality work.
"The public can be assured, however, that we will work with the supervising attorney and monitor to review and, if necessary, address these few concerns," said Commissioner Cindy Carter.