Public defender crisis hits state courts | FOX 13 Seattle

Added: 2026-05-27

[00:00:00]You know, we don't want to see a situation where there's any more violent, you know, uh suspects being released, not because they've been found not guilty, but because we couldn't even figure out how to get them into court. It is a growing crisis in Washington's criminal justice system. A shortage of public defenders forcing courts to release suspects without trial. The state is under a constitutional mandate to reduce the workload of public defenders. That mandate is putting a major strain on local budgets. And so far, the state hasn't stepped up to the plate. I left public defense 2 years ago, and the reason I left was because I was sure that it would kill me. Ramona Brandis with the Washington Defender Association knows firsthand the grueling demands of public defenders face.

[00:00:46]>> I was routinely working 12-16 hour days, including on weekends. She says Washington's public defenders have been leaving the practice in droves, burning out under high case loads. That prompted the State Supreme Court in 2025 to mandate a major reduction of the maximum case loads for public defenders. It went from 150 felony and 400 misdemeanor cases to 47 felony and 120 misdemeanor cases per year. The Washington Association of Prosecuting Attorney says they support lighter case loads for public defenders, but the group says the Supreme Court's cuts are too drastic and not realistic under current challenges.

[00:01:25]And the group is concerned about more backlog and cases going unresolved.

[00:01:29]Chief Supreme Court Justice Deborah Stephens told Fox 13 last year that she recognizes the change is significant.

[00:01:35]>> We recognize this isn't something that will be solved overnight, and it's going to take a partnership of everyone involved. Uh the courts, uh the cities, the counties, uh the public defense entities, the state bar. Justice Stephens pointing out the state doesn't have to pivot overnight because a constitutional mandate has a 10-year implementation window, requiring caseloads to drop by 10% of its goal each year. Still, reaching that standard requires hiring many more public defenders, and that means funding. The legislature has had multiple opportunities to provide public defense funding, but so far there's they haven't given any solution. In the so-called millionaires tax passed this year, the original Senate version of the bill devoted 7% of its revenue to public defense, but that funding was stripped out of the final version. Right now, Washington is an outlier among states in how little it contributes to public defense, currently footing less than 4% of the bill. The cost burden then falls to counties and cities, and when there aren't enough public defenders, cases get dismissed and people accused of serious crimes get released with no accountability. We have cases of murder trial in Spokane County, for example, that is being delayed because their public defender's office says that they don't have the hours to provide public defenders for it.

[00:03:00]We saw, you know, serious felonies, violent felonies in the Tri-Cities area and Yakima be set loose because they couldn't find representation for them. Derek Young with Washington State Association of Counties calling this a constitutional crisis that will soon become a public safety crisis. What you're seeing in those more remote counties >> [clears throat] >> in central and eastern Washington, it will become a statewide issue in the near future. Young's association has sued the state trying to force the legislature to provide more funding for public defense. That lawsuit was filed in Thurston County Superior Court in 2023, and in a twist of irony, Young says the case has been delayed by a lack of funding for that particular court.

[00:03:46]So, it is a little funny that we end up with the situation where the state's underfunding of the criminal justice system is slowing down our lawsuit.

[00:03:55]Well, the trial for that lawsuit is set for late 2027. Before that happens, lawmakers will return to Olympia for the next legislative session in January. We reached out to Governor Ferguson's office about where they stand on the funding issue for public defense.

[00:04:08]We did not hear back.