HomeMy WebLinkAbout10/14/2025 03.B. Update on Indigent Defense Caseload Standards of Yg
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BUSINESS OF THE CITY COUNCIL
YAKIMA, WASHINGTON
AGENDA STATEMENT
Item No. 3.B.
For Meeting of: October 14, 2025
ITEM TITLE: Update on Indigent Defense Caseload Standards
SUBMITTED BY: Cynthia Martinez, Senior Assistant City Attorney
SUMMARY EXPLANATION:
The City of Yakima Legal department will give an update on the Washington State Supreme Court's
recently adopted indigent defense counsel caseload limits and the consequences for the City.
ITEM BUDGETED: N/A
STRATEGIC PRIORITY 24-25: A Safe and Healthy Yakima
RECOMMENDATION:
ATTACHMENTS:
Public Defense Caseload Limits & Charging.pptx
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PUBLIC DEFENSE CASELOAD
LIMITS AND CHARGING
Recent Developments and the Potential Impacts to the City
C. Martinez, Senior Assistant City Attorney
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• Standards for Indigent Defense, Standard 3.4
- January 1, 2015 new caseload limits for
I-I i sto r
Y misdemeanor cases were implemented
across the state. Under the 2015
standards - public defenders are limited
Case l o a d to 400 cases per attorney per year in
jurisdictions that do not use case
Limits weighting.
■ Standard 3.4 as adopted in 2015 required the
City to make changes in order to comply with
ta n d a rd 3 . 4 the 400 case limit. The response from the City
was a mix of additional public defense
resources and modified charging standards.
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New Standards adopted by the WSBA
On March 8, 2024, the Washington State Bar Association (WSBA)
adopted new misdemeanor indigent defense case load limits and
recommended the Washington State Supreme Court adopt the
standards as well. The Supreme Court drafted a rule incorporating
the WSBA newly adopted indigent defense standards and asked for
comment. The City of Yakima submitted a comment.
The proposed rule phased in a caseload reduction over a two-
year period, taking effect in 2027, reducing the caseload limit
for each public defense attorney from the current 400 cases a
year to 120 case credits. The rule also included mandatory
social worker and paralegal staffing levels, and a complicated
case counting method.
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Washington Supreme Court adopts
indigent defense caseload limits
■ After receiving a substantial number of i ihIir. comments, and
testimony at two public hearings, the Court issued an Interim
amending Supreme Court Rule CrRlj 3.1 (Court Standards)
and establishing new caseload limits for indigent defense starting
on January 1 , 2026.
- The number of misdemeanor case credits a public
defender can handle in a single year shall be 120 case
credits. For felonies, it's 47 case credits. This standard will
be implemented in phases beginning on January 1 , 2026.
- Local government has 10 years to implement the
caseload limits. Each year, 10% of the difference between
400 and 120 must be reduced. In 2026 the caseload per
indigent attorney will be 372 cases, in 2027, 344 cases etc.
- The mandatory social worker and paralegal staffing, and the
case counting method was not included in the new rule.
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What effect will
the new standards - Year Total # Reduction
have other the - 20253740 n/a
next couple of - 2026 3478 262
- 2027 3216 523
years .
The anticipated indigent defense
funding level for 9.35 attorneys will
result in reductions as illustrated in
the as follows:
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2023 case type breakdown
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CASES 481 479 9`9 59 523 540
0 250 500 750 1000 1250 1500 1750 2000 2250 2500 2750 3000 3250 3500 3750 4000
•DUI/Physical Control —DV ■Other Serious Person Crimes•Theft
•Suspended License(1/2) ■Serious traffic •Property Crimes Persons •Weapons
•Other •Probation
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■ The City of Yakima will
To maintain have to add 22 new
defense attorneys
our current over the course of 10
charging years. This increase in
abilitystaffing may triple our
current public defense
budget.
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PERRY MASON
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QUESTIONS
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