King County public defenders join lawsuit against WA for funding

For years, public defenders have reasoned and pleaded with Washington lawmakers to address a crisis in the courts by dramatically increasing what the state spends to provide attorneys for poor people.

But the lawmakers haven't taken much action. So now, Seattle-area defenders are suing. To be precise, the King County Department of Public Defense is joining a lawsuit by rural counties that's already in progress.

The move shows that some advocates are running out of patience with the Legislature, which earlier this year retracted a proposal to dedicate some revenue from the state's new "millionaires tax" for public defenders.

They now see legal action as potentially the only way to force the Legislature's hand to fund public defense the way most other states do, similar to what lawsuits over public education funding have previously done.

"You don't want to become a pessimist and say there's no chance, but you realize you may have to have different approaches to motivate lawmakers," said Matt Sanders, director of King County's public defense department. Sometimes litigation is the only way."

The lawsuit began in 2023, when Lincoln, Pacific and Yakima counties and the Washington State Association of Counties accused the state of neglecting its constitutional obligations by not adequately funding public defense.

The suit suffered an initial setback in 2024, when a Superior Court Judge dismissed it, saying the counties lacked standing. But an appeals court disagreed last year and the state Supreme Court declined to intervene.

King County's public defenders have more independence than their peers in some other counties. By joining the existing suit as a plaintiff, they're giving the case some extra political force. They're also trying to make sure they have a voice during any settlement negotiations, Sanders said.

"We want to be in the room when conversations are happening," he said.

Derek Young, executive director of the Washington Association of Counties, said his group welcomed King County's public defense department to the suit, which is scheduled to head to trial in 2027.

"Our interests are aligned in this," Young said. "It won't change much in terms of strategy but it does indicate a level of frustration with the state.

Under Washington's longstanding approach, the Legislature has delegated its public defense obligations to the counties and made them shoulder almost all those expenses, which total hundreds of millions of dollars each year.

The counties claim the system is broken, arguing they can't raise enough money at the local level to provide all their defendants with adequate counsel. Most other U.S. states cover the majority of defense expenses. The Legislature boosted its spending last year, but the counties want much more.

The debate matters because funding struggles and heavy caseloads have led to attorney shortages and uneven services across Washington, sometimes depriving defendants of representation and hampering prosecutions.

The state Supreme Court has scheduled lower caseloads for defenders to reduce burnout and attract more recruits over time. For some counties, the new standards could exacerbate budget and staffing woes in the short term.

The new caseload standards will require more attorneys to be hired, so King County's defense costs are bound to climb in the coming years and local taxpayers will bear the burden until the Legislature acts, Sanders said.

The county pays for its public defenders out of its general fund, and that fund has to pay for things like parks and youth programs, Sanders noted.

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