Attorney selected to supervise juvenile, district court public defenders

EPHRATA - Moses Lake attorney Brett Hill was selected to supervise Grant County's juvenile and district court public defense attorneys.

The Grant County Commission's decision to expand Hill's role was effective June 1 and comes after a court monitor made repeated suggestions that Grant County have one person supervise the felony public defense system.

Supervising attorney Alan White was overseeing public defenders in superior court, district court and juvenile court. White is now just supervising attorneys handling adult felony cases.

"I'll have more time to concentrate on the supervision of the superior court defenders and hopefully do more mentoring and coaching if there's a need for it," White said.

He said Hill is "very knowledgeable" and has practiced law for quite a number of years. Hill's and White's offices are located in the same building in Moses Lake.

Grant County's public defense system is watched by a court monitor because of a 2004 lawsuit.

The ACLU and Columbia Legal Services sued Grant County on behalf of three men who were charged with felonies and claimed they weren't given "effective assistance of counsel," the complaint states.

The court monitor writes quarterly reports on the county's performance and addresses issues such as the workloads of its public defense attorneys and White.

The ACLU claimed having White supervise public defense attorneys for all three courts was outside the settlement agreement for the lawsuit, Grant County Commissioner Richard Stevens said.

Stevens said county commissioners decided to put someone in charge, rather than allow the issue to resurface.

The point of contention between the county and the ACLU appears to be the differences between White's 2007 contract with the county and the settlement agreement, according to a 2007 compliance report.

The county's 2007 contract with White is broader than the settlement agreement, which is only concerned with adult felony cases, the report states.

Court monitor Tito Rodriguez, a Seattle attorney, said the settlement agreement requires a full-time person to oversee adult felony cases.

"I felt his (White's) workload was far too much," Rodriguez said. "My recommendation was they take the work away from Alan. I didn't care how they did it."

Rodriguez said he didn't know about the staffing change until he was contacted by the Columbia Basin Herald, but added he was "pleased to hear the county is making Alan's workload more reasonable."

Hill is currently a public defense lawyer in Grant County District Court and a former Grant County District Court commissioner.

He said Friday he's still negotiating the terms of new role and his salary with the county.

He doesn't have a formal agreement with the county, but agreed to assign cases to public defense attorneys so defendants are represented.

"We're in the transition and trying to make sure everything doesn't fall apart in the meantime," Hill said. "We're optimistic we'll get things solidified so we can comfortably move ahead."

County commissioners are expected to approve a public defense contract this week with Spokane attorney John C. Perry, according to the commissioners' meeting agenda. Perry will work as the county's ninth public defense attorney and "will be a great addition to our staff," White said.