HomeMy WebLinkAboutDistrict Court Budget NarrativeFUND/DEPARTMENT:District Court 080
2022-2023 BIENNIAL BUDGET
Jefferson County District Court and Adult Probation Services including BehavioralHealth Court
BUDGET /
PROGRAM Fund/Program
Description RCWs
Jefferson County District Court is committed to providing equal justice for all persons. We provide just and expeditious resolution of legal matters. We
aim to provide courteous and equal treatment to all in an atmosphere of mutual respect and dignity while maintaining the independence of the judiciary.
Adult Probation services helps create a safe community by monitoring and holding adult misdemeanant offenders responsible fortheir behavior and
MISSION
actions, curtailing recidivism and fostering long-term positive change in those individuals under our supervision. We also provide outreach and resources
to those individuals under our supervision to help them re-engage in our local community and plan for a more positive and successful future.
STATEMENT
Goals for 2022 and 2023
GOALS &
1.Continue to improve on our virtual services currently used for our daily court operations and collaborate with our Law and Justice Partners and
OBJECTIVES
county agencies to improve our efficiency as a court.
2.Utilize our electronic records management system to include all court records in an effort to reduce the need to use the RecordsCenter for storage
and retention of paper records.
3.Increase our electronic records utilization to allow for e-filing by our Justice Partners and the general public as well as the distribution of signed
electronic records back to the filer.
4.Create electronic in-court processes to increase efficiency during court hearings and cut down on processing time after court.
5.Increase the number of participants eligible for our Behavioral Health Court treatment program by reaching out to Justice Partners to reduce our jail
population and potentially allow first time offenders in Superior Court to have access to our services.
6.Continue to provide either in person or virtual training to Court and Probation staff to increase services levels to the citizens of Jefferson County and
adopt best practices in the areas of supervision of misdemeanants in our community.
2020 - 2021 Biennial Budget
The global COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 drastically impacted Jefferson County District Court. With the shut downs
SUMMARY
and other mandates, our case numbers have been greatly reduced. Court revenue is directly tied to the fines and
fees that can be imposed on criminal and infraction case that are filed with the court. In 2019, there were
approximately 5,000 infractions filed in Jefferson County. In 2020 that number dropped down to 3742 and as of end
of August 2021 we have currently filed 2844 infraction cases. Criminal cases have gone from 1094 in 2020 down to
341 year to date in 2021.
Out of these filings, ESSHB 1783 which became effective on June 7, 2018, continues to reduce the total financial
amount that can be imposed and collected on a convicted person due to the laws regarding indigency. Indigency is
defined as a citizen receiving certain type of public assistance or with an annual income of 124 percent or less of the
federal poverty level. The pandemic has only increased the number of persons who are now indigent due the large
numbers of people collecting benefits and losing their jobs in 2020 and 2021 and whole business sectors being shut
down or limited in service.
Compounding the reduction in collection of fines and fees, a separate ruling against the Washington State
Department of Licensing in May 2021, finding it was unconstitutional for the state to suspend licenses for people
who didn’t pay traffic fines without determining their ability to afford it, as it violated their right to due process. This
ruling will remain until January 2023 when Senate Bill 5226 become effective. SB5226 changed the suspension
requirements for drivers who have failed to respond, appear or pay on their infractions filed in District Court.
Individuals who have responded to an infraction or appear in court will not have their license suspended due to
failure to pay afterward.
One of the main motivators for individuals to pay their infractions was the license suspension by Department of
Licensing and now that mechanism has been lifted. We are expecting our revenue numbers to continue to drop over
the resulting years as a result of these rulings.
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2020 - 2021 Biennial Budget
202120222023
Current
RequestRequest
STAFFING
Budget
8.968.968.96
FTEs
District Court and Adult Probation
See Attached Organizational chart forpositions and names
Court Staff: 6.96 for each year
Probation Staff: 2 for each year
202020212023
2022
PERFORMANCE INDICATORS
Actuals ExpectedProjectedProjected
No. of Infraction Filings
284435003500
3742
No. of Criminal Filings
341500600
1094
No. of Civil Filings
314400400
399
No. of Jury Trials
3
456
year to date
8/31/2021
Probation Clients
676 currently
651650650
The general trend across Washington State for Law Enforcement agencies of performing more outreach and other forms of
community-based policing along with the fallout from the Blake ruling regarding felony drug possession will continue to cause our
filings to drop. Law Enforcement will be even more engaged on community restoration vs. punishment in the upcoming years than
ever before.
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2020 - 2021 Biennial Budget
One of the benefits of the COVID-19 pandemic on Jefferson County District Court was it forced us to quickly adapt to the new ways
of conducting court. The court moved to holding most hearings virtually via the Zoom platform and live streaming the hearings on
YouTube to allow the general public to still observe hearings and individuals in the court system to safely access court while their
cases are being adjudicated. We are looking forward to increasing our virtual footprint over the next two years by introducing e-
filing and e-documentation as goal as well as digitizing our paper files. Our probation staff have been using the virtual platform to
reach out and remain in contact with their clients virtually to ensure compliance and check in to offer support services during the
pandemic.
However, due to the pandemic and moving to this platform, staff have had a large increase in customer service contacts requiring
technical assistance to hold these hearings. It now takes two clerks to run the court sessions along with the Judge comparedtojust
one before we started using Zoom. During the session, it takes a second clerk outside of the courtroom to control and monitorthe
virtual portion of our court sessions. They provide in session technical assistance to all participants to effectively utilize all of the
benefits the virtual platform has as well as gatekeeping and compliance with court rules.
Since the onset of the pandemic, District Court Staff have experienced a significant increase in the amount of technical assistance
requests received from community members. Due to the stay-at-home orders, we have seen escalation in conflicts between
neighbors, resulting in a significant increase in requests for anti-harassment orders between neighbors and how these are filed with
the court.
DistrictCourt Probation has remained steady in terms of numbers despite the reduction in case filings. As of this budget call,
District court has 676 active individuals on some type of supervision for the court, which follows our average over the last few
years. We are asking for the number of probation officers to remain as our workload has not decreased. Our officers have also
transitioned away from a purely compliance model of probation to more of an active case management model which includes
helping our probationers navigate the 'new normal' during the pandemic and providing assistance with resources, job searches,
education and other forms of public assistance to ensure that a probation has the means to successfully complete their terms and
conditions of probation.
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