Title
A MOTION declaring King County's commitment to creating a more sustainable workload for the department of public defense and requesting the executive to convene a task force for the purpose of developing recommendations to address the class A attorney attrition crisis and a plan for fully adopting the recommendations made in the National Public Defense Workload Study by 2027.
Body
WHEREAS, the sixth amendment to the United States Constitution provides the accused with a series of rights in all criminal prosecutions, including the right to a speedy and public trial by an impartial jury and the right to legal representation, and
WHEREAS, public defenders play a key role in ensuring equal justice for the accused by providing legal representation to adults and youth who have been charged with a crime and cannot afford an attorney, and
WHEREAS, about eighty to ninety percent of individuals charged with a felony in King County qualify for and rely on a public defender, and
WHEREAS, according to the most-recent proviso report on the county's legal system backlog, dated May 2023, the backlog has resulted in increased case resolution times, which has implications for defendants, particularly those awaiting case resolution in custody, and for alleged victims waiting for an outcome, and
WHEREAS, the proviso report dated May 2023 also states that challenges with recruiting, hiring, and retaining qualified staff, in particular experienced attorneys, is a key barrier to addressing the legal system backlog, and
WHEREAS, during the law, justice, health and human services committee meeting on October 3, 2023, the department of public defense reported that between January 1, 2022, and July 28, 2023, it has lost fifty-eight attorneys, eighteen of which are class A qualified attorneys, and that this loss is, in significant part, due to unrealistic statewide caseload standards, and
WHEREAS, during that same law, justice, health and human services committee meeting, th...

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