Washington Supreme Court Sets Final Public Hearing on Defense Standards Nov. 13; Written Comment Deadline Oct. 31

Washington Supreme Court Sets Final Public Hearing on Defense Standards Nov. 13; Written Comment Deadline Oct. 31

October 22, 2024

The Washington Supreme Court has scheduled a second and final public hearing on Nov. 13 to hear testimony on proposed changes to the Court's standards for indigent (public) defense. The hearing is scheduled for 9 a.m. to noon at the Temple of Justice on the Capital Campus in Olympia, and testimony will be taken both in-person and over Zoom.

Advance registration is required to testify in either format. The hearing will be live-streamed and recorded by TVW.

Written comments on the proposed standards must be submitted by Oct. 31, 2024. Comments can be emailed to the Clerk of the Supreme Court at [email protected], or can be mailed to P.O. Box 40929, Olympia, Washington 98504-0929. Email comments must be limited to 1500 words, but longer comments may be attached to an e-mail as a document.

The final public hearing is intended as an opportunity for the Court to hear rebuttal arguments responding to written comments submitted to the Court, and to the testimony at a previous public hearing held Sept. 25 in Thurston County.

The proposed changes to the Supreme Court's adopted standards for indigent defense 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.

The amendments to three Washington Court Rules were proposed by the Washington State Bar Association (WSBA) and its Council on Public Defense. "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 a summary of the requested amendments.

For additional background, see our July 17, 2024 press release.

Any interested person may provide testimony to the Court at the hearing, either in person or remotely via Zoom. Those who wish to testify at the hearing are asked to follow these guidelines:

• Testimony should focus on responding to written comments submitted to the Court during the public comment period and to testimony at the Court's prior hearing on September 25th, as opposed to repeating points previously made. To review the written comments that have been submitted to the Court, please click here. A recording of the September 25th hearing may be viewed here.
  
• Advance registration is required to testify at the hearing either in person or via Zoom. To register, please click this link and follow the instructions. Those who register will receive a Zoom webinar link - including those who registered to testify in person - and an email with additional important information about how to testify. Registration will close at 8 a.m. on November 13th (one hour before the start of the hearing).
  
• To ensure that as many people as possible may be heard, participants should plan to limit their testimony to three minutes.

Following the final public hearing, the Court will review all written comments submitted and all public testimony provided at the hearings as justices discuss the proposed amendments. The Supreme Court has the responsibility to review the proposed amendments and to decide whether to adopt them (in whole, in part, or with modifications) or to reject them.

There is no deadline for the Court to issue a decision, "but the Court is aware of the importance of the issue and the concern that all interested parties have about the standards," said Justice Mary Yu, Chair of the Washington Supreme Court Rules Committee.

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