Washington Courts: Press Release Detail

Proposed Changes to Washington Supreme Court Public Defense Standards Open for Public Comment by Oct. 31

The Washington Supreme Court is seeking input on proposed changes to the Court’s adopted standards for public defense. The proposed new standards would include lowering the maximum caseloads for public defense attorneys, revising some qualification requirements for public defense attorneys, and setting  minimum support staffing requirements for public defense attorneys and offices.

Public comments are being accepted on proposed amendments to three Washington Court Rules establishing state standards for indigent defense. Comments must be received by October 31, 2024. Comments may be sent by email to supreme@courts.wa.gov or by U.S. Mail to P.O. Box 40929, Olympia, WA 98504-0929.

In addition, Supreme Court justices will host two public hearings on the proposed amendments, with the first scheduled for Sept. 25, 2024. More details on location, time and format will be announced in September.

The amendments were requested by the Washington State Bar Association (WSBA) and its Council on Public Defense (CPD).

“Public defense in Washington is facing a crisis of attrition and an inability to recruit staff brought about by excessive workloads and poor compensation. Attorneys are resigning from the public defense profession in droves because they cannot continue the work given the volume of cases,” wrote the WSBA and the CPD in the summary of the requested amendments.

In response to the growing crisis, the CPD began a comprehensive revision of the WSBA’s Standards for Indigent Defense Services in January, 2022. In addition, a national study was released in July, 2023 with recommendations to reduce public defense workload standards, which was considered in the CPD study. The Council presented recommendations to the WSBA Board of Governors for significantly revised standards in early 2024.

The WSBA Board adopted the recommendations in March, 2024 and voted to forward the revised WSBA Standards to the Supreme Court with the recommendation that the Court incorporate the new standards into the Washington Supreme Court Standards for Indigent Defense.

The recommendations focused on three areas – support staff requirements, attorney qualifications, and caseload standards.

“Revisions in all three areas were necessary to recognize the realities of current public defense practice, ensure the standards met Constitutional requirements, and to address public defender attrition and difficulty recruiting new attorneys to the profession,” the WSBA wrote in the summary to the Supreme Court Rules Committee.

Proponents asked for expedited consideration by the Court.

Washington’s court system is governed through a system of rules known as Washington Rules of Court, or “Court Rules.” The purpose of court rules is to provide governance of court procedures and practices and to promote justice by ensuring a fair and expeditious process. The Court Rules process is detailed in General Court Rule 9 (GR 9) and is overseen by the Supreme Court Rules Committee. Court rule changes are adopted by the Washington Supreme Court.

“I encourage members of the public to review the proposed standards and to submit a written comment,” said Supreme Court Justice Mary Yu, Chair of the Washington Supreme Court Rules Committee. “We review each comment and it is a critical part of the rule adoption process.”