People charged with misdemeanors to get help under new court alternative program
A select few people who are charged with misdemeanors will be able to get help instead of fines or jail time through a new Thurston County pilot program starting later this year.
The Thurston County Court Alternative Program (TC-CAP) will launch Dec. 1 and run for one year in a pilot phase, according to a county news release.
“The whole key for this program is to connect people to community-based service providers that are going to help address the underlying root cause of their criminal behavior,” Leah Landon, the county’s Criminal Justice Regional Program Manager, told the Board of County Commissioners during an Oct. 21 briefing.
These providers should be able to help people get substance-use and mental-health treatment, housing assistance, job counseling and more. To participate, people must be indigent and charged with eligible misdemeanors or gross misdemeanors, according to county documents. That means participants will be diverted from District Court and, if successful, limit their involvement in the criminal legal system.
“In cases involving non-felony charges, public safety is often best served when people are given the opportunity and support they need to stop committing crime,” Thurston County Prosecutor Jon Tunheim said in the news release.
In addition to helping people, the county hopes to eventually benefit from this program. Landon said the program should help lighten already “very high” caseloads for District Court, public defenders and prosecuting attorneys.
“If we can better support people in our community through a program like this and connect them to services, that’s also taking that burden off of our court, which is really incredible too,” Landon said.
Patrick O’Connor, director of Thurston County Public Defense, said his office fully supports the TC-CAP pilot.
“Our defenders are overloaded with unsustainable caseloads and this program offers the opportunity to achieve better outcomes for individuals and promote public safety at the same time,” O’Connor said in the news release.
The county initially allocated about $90,000 from its treatment sales tax fund, the veterans fund and housing fund for this program, Landon said, but county staff ultimately determined that was not needed for the pilot phase.
“So, at this time, again, there’s no additional cost to the county to implement this program,” Landon said. “This is something we are doing with existing resources.”
How will this work in practice?
To get into the program, a person’s public defender and prosecuting attorney must first agree that a person would be a “good fit,” according to county documents.
From there, the public defender can offer the program to the person. If they agree to participate, the public defender will then connect them to the county’s Resource Hub, a drop-in office that serves people with behavioral health needs.
“T-CAP is voluntary,” Landon said. “This is not something that is court ordered or people can be sentenced to. The person has to agree that they want to participate and at any time they can change their mind.”
Resource Hub staff then consult with the person, their public defender and the prosecuting attorney, then connect the person with an appropriate service provider.
Currently, there are just three providers who have signed up to take part in the county’s pilot program.
- Olympia Health and Recovery Services, a Lacey-based behavioral health agency, plans to help people through its Law Enforcement Assisted Diversion (LEAD) program.
- Catholic Community Services, a nonprofit with an Olympia office, intends to assist people via its Arrest and Jail Alternatives Program.
- Capital Recovery Center, an Olympia-based nonprofit, will offer help via its walk-in clinic, outreach and housing program and peer support services.
The participant will get a personalized service plan after being assessed by a provider, according to county documents. They will be expected to follow that plan until their next hearing date, which must take place in no more than six months.
Notably, Landon said there’s no compliance component during this process, meaning the participant is not required to report to court or be subjected to some form of monitoring.
One month before the hearing date, Resource Hub staff will request an advocacy letter from the provider, according to county documents. That letter will be reviewed by the Prosecuting Attorney’s Office, Public Defense, Resource Hub, District Court, service providers and Landon herself, she said.
“The attorneys are going to do the legal work of discussing, ‘OK, what’s going to be the case outcome?’ Are we going to dismiss charges? Do we need to see something different? Did this person not engage with the service provider at all and we need to move them back into the traditional (court) system?’”
Following that review, the case may be handled ex-parte or the matter may be set before the court, according to county documents.
Frankie Peters, District Court Chief Executive Officer, said the former option is a chance for the matter to be addressed without having to formally summon everyone to court for a hearing.
Lastly, the participant would be invited to a graduation ceremony after the case gets resolved.
The county plans to stagger referral for the program over one year, according to county documents. Five participants will be referred in the first month of the program followed by three in month two and two in month three.
At the end of the pilot, Landon said county staff will prepare a final report. County documents indicate staff will evaluate the program by measuring the following metrics.
- The number of new connections to providers, people referred to each provider, people who engage with each provider and people who began to engage and then disengaged.
- The number of people who engage in TC-CAP until their next hearing date.
- The reasons why people exit the program, including successful completion, new arrest, voluntary removal, unsuccessful participation and more.
- The outcome of the next hearing.
- Any recidivism that may occur.
- Whether and how engaging with service providers helped meet participants needs with respect to housing, mental illness and substance use.
“We will give regular updates on the program’s progress to the Board of County Commissioners and will submit a final report that shares information on the program’s performance measures at the end of the one-year pilot,” Landon said in the release.
How did the county get to this point?
Commissioner Carolina Mejia said in the news release that she proposed the program four years ago when she first took office.
“It’s incredibly rewarding to see it brought to life. Connecting individuals to the services they need can make all the difference in their journey,” Mejia said. “I am eager to see the positive impact this program will bring to Thurston County.”
Landon told the board last week that she and Mejia visited the San Diego Homeless Court in July 2023. Staff then formulated a proposal to create a similar program and the board approved of it in fall 2023, she said.
This year, Landon said she convened a TC-CAP Implementation Committee and completed a program handbook.
This story was originally published November 4, 2024 at 5:00 AM.
