Olympia council OKs plan for Thurston County to take over municipal court services
The Olympia City Council last week unanimously approved an interlocal agreement with Thurston County transferring the city’s municipal court services to the county’s district court system.
Mayor Dontae Payne said it’s unfortunate situation for the city and its long-standing municipal court system to be in, but no other long-term solutions have been deemed sustainable.
The Board of County Commissioners will consider the agreement on July 29. If approved, the city will provide a six-month notice to the Administrative Office of the Courts of its intent to terminate Municipal Court, and the city will transition judicial services to Thurston County on or around Feb. 1, 2026.
Assistant City Manager Debbie Sullivan walked the council through the interlocal agreement. She said there’s no question that Olympia’s municipal court has a long history of serving the community with compassion and integrity.
“However, like other communities, our budget challenges are significant, and a regional approach to judicial services makes sense,” Sullivan said.
Sullivan said staff’s recommendation to council had been to retain prosecution and public defense, and contract with the county for judicial services. The council also considered using 108 State Ave. and council chambers as long-term, permanent locations for the court.
However, she said it was found that these spaces could be used to accommodate a short-term need, but sharing council chambers would fundamentally change the room. She said it also would pose significant logistical, security and workflow challenges that would be hard to sustain over time.
Sullivan said the interlocal agreement was shaped by the city’s reimagining public safety goals adopted in 2022. One of those goals is to reduce the number of individuals who connect initially and repeatedly with law enforcement and the criminal justice system.
“It speaks to the commitment by both the city and county to balance compassion and accountability through the expansion of restorative justice programs and evidence-based courts, as well as our mutual desire to provide for progressive alternatives and community support through opportunities such as pre-trial diversion and probation services,” Sullivan said.
She said the purpose of the agreement is to provide all court services for all criminal cases and infractions requiring a hearing, as well as progressive alternatives and supervised probation. The term is July 1, 2025, through Dec. 31, 2026.
Sullivan said both the city and county have to sign the agreement, and the city will notify the Administrative Office of the Courts to extend the contract. She said the city must give notice to the county no later than Oct. 1, 2026, and then the two jurisdictions will negotiate new terms. If they can’t come to an agreement, they can go into arbitration or continue negotiations.
She said the county will provide an annual report on the services provided, and specifically report on enrollment in veterans and mental health or other court-offered programs. It also includes file management and retention. The agreement requires the county to provide 60 days notice if any of the services in the agreement change.
Sullivan said the agreement can be terminated by providing written notice to the county one year before Feb. 1 of the year district court judges are subject to an election.
“The judges are up for election in 2026, so this is important because the city can only terminate at the end of the four-year District Court judicial term,” Sullivan said. “If the county wants to terminate, they notify the Administrative Office of the Courts not less than one year before the agreement expires.”
Comments from the council
Council member Clark Gilman said he supports the ILA without reservation, but with a real sadness. He said it was an honor that under Judge Scott Ahlf’s leadership the municipal court became a national mentor court through the Center for Justice Innovation. He said he hopes that court staff land as well as they can through this transition.
Council member Kelly Green said regionalization is a topic that comes up a lot in Olympia because it’s so intertwined with its neighboring cities. She said she thinks court services is a place where it makes sense to move forward with regionalization.
“I think Thurston County courts have a strong reputation, and I’m really excited to see how that work continues going forward,” Green said.
Mayor Dontae Payne said to be at this point is really unfortunate because the council did look into other options, but keeping the court just isn’t feasible.
“I know that this is something that has been weighing heavily on all of them (court staff) for the past several months, anticipating what decision we’re going to make in this regard,” he said. “And I know it hasn’t been easy on anyone, including us, and so I just want to acknowledge that this is a really tough time for them, most especially at the Municipal Court, and we value them for what they’ve done for us and what they’ll continue to do.”
Payne said the council has heard a lot of comments about giving up local control, which he said is true to an extent. At the same time, the council doesn’t have full control now over the court, which is a separate branch of government.
He said he thinks what people are getting at when they talk about local control is the concern that the county won’t be as forward thinking as Olympia. He said the council hasn’t been given any evidence of that being the case.
“Our neighbors of Lacey and Tumwater have been contracting with the county in this regard for years at this point, and so there is a precedent there, and while we are giving up some of our control, we still have some of it, in the sense that, as you just heard, we can revisit our ILA with the county at any given time,” Payne said.
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