Controlling court loads

Medical Lake’s City Council took an initial step to bring its municipal court up to speed regarding public defender caseload rules adopted by Washington’s Supreme Court and Legislature.

At its Jan. 17 meeting, the council held a discussion and first reading of an ordinance limiting the municipal court public defender to no more than 300 cases per year “as determined through a case weighted policy.” Other courts in the state have been adopting the policy recommended by the Supreme Court, including Cheney Municipal Court, which handles cases for Medical Lake’s court as well as public defender services.

In presenting the ordinance, city attorney Cindy McMullen stressed that Medical Lake Municipal Court is not out of compliance with any regulations. The ordinance is needed for the court to be eligible for grant applications, and puts it in line with Cheney’s procedures.

“It makes sense to be on the same page with them,” McMullen said.

The Supreme Court adopted new rules in 2012 out of concerns heavy caseloads would have on the ability of attorneys in providing “quality representation” for indigent defendants. The court described “quality representation” as the “minimum level of attention, care and skill that Washington citizens would expect of their state’s criminal justice system.”

The court listed its recommendations as to what constitutes a reasonable caseload, such as 150 felony cases or 300 misdemeanor cases. It also allowed lower courts to use either an upward case-weighted system, where complex offenses are listed as more than one caseload, or a downward-weighted system where cases not requiring much time or paperwork are valued as less than one case.

Under Medical Lake’s ordinance, which is worded the same as Cheney’s, it’s acknowledged that some cases require only a limited amount of time and effort to provide effective representation. Cases that meet certain requirements can often be dispensed through other means than criminal conviction, such as civil compromises, and therefore will “be credited for at less than one-third full case credit” under the ordinance’s weighted system.

As an example, McMullen used a case such as driving with an expired license, which can often be remedied quickly and without a lot of work, versus a driving under the influence case that usually involves more paperwork and court time.

McMullen said the actual number of cases the court handles won’t change under the ordinance, only their value in calculating the public defender’s load, which is how the court pays for indigent defender services. Currently, the court pays $250 per defendant per incident.

Also at the meeting, the council agreed to a modification of the 2014 memorandum of understanding with Cheney’s court allowing incoming Cheney judge Richard Leland to hear court cases. Leland is replacing Judge Gregg Tripp, who remains on the Spokane District Court bench but is stepping down from Cheney after 18 years there.

In other action items the council approved a five-year extension of the contract with Barr-Tech for sludge removal at the city’s watewater treatment plan.

The extension is allowed by the original contract. Price increases are already set by that contract, and no increases are proposed.

In member reports, Councilwoman Shirley Maike said the Community Development Block Grant allocation for this year will be $1.4 million. She also noted that only 10 requests for CDBG funding had been made.

Maike has sat on the CDBG board for 21 years, and added that they used to receive over 50 requests each allocation year. That has dropped as funding requirements limit requests to specific projects.

John McCallum can be reached at jmac@cheneyfreepress.com.