Too few public defenders and too many cases are stressing the Washington state criminal justice system, with counties struggling to ensure people accused of crimes, but unable to afford a lawyer, receive counsel as they are constitutionally guaranteed. In less populated counties where finding private attorneys to fill the role can be difficult, cases are delayed or dismissed, leaving defendants and victims in the lurch, reports the Washington State Standard. Public defenders, prosecutors, judges and government officials agree on the problem. They disagree on whether shrinking public defender caseloads is the best immediate solution, as members of a Senate panel heard. “The crisis is that the accused are going unrepresented, in criminal and in civil cases, throughout the state because of the shortage of public defenders,” Jason Schwarz of the Snohomish County Office of Public Defense, told the Senate Law and Justice Committee.
“Without changes in the public defense system, the crisis will get worse, and more people will go unrepresented and their rights violated,” he said. “The victim here in this delay is not public defenders, it’s the defendants and the victims of crime who are subject to delays.” Recruiting public defenders is a struggle, especially in rural counties, as experienced lawyers retire and newer hires bail for better-paying, less stressful jobs elsewhere, said Larry Jefferson, director of the state’s Office of Public Defense. “We have justice by geography. Depending on what county you live in determines your access to a public defender,” he said.
A proposal from the Washington State Bar Association to ease pressure on public defenders by reducing caseloads is raising concerns among prosecutors, judges, and lawmakers on potential costs and unintended consequences. Under standards adopted by the state Supreme Court in 2012, a full-time public defense attorney or assigned counsel should have no more than 150 felony cases a year. Last year, the American Bar Association, the National Center for State Courts and the RAND Justice Policy Program issued a National Public Defense Workload Study that concluded public defenders should handle far fewer.