HomeMy WebLinkAboutM121207S
District No. 1 Commissioner: Phil JOhDSOD
District No.2 Commissioner: David W. SIIWvaa
District No.3 Commissioner: John AIlItiD
County Administrator: John F. Fischbach
Clerk of the Board: Lorna Delaney
MINUTES
Special Meeting December 12, 2007
Chairman Phil Johnson called the meeting to order in the presence of Commissioners David
Sullivan and John Austin.
Discussion re: Public Defender Services: (See also minutes of December 10, 2007.) The
Chair explained that this special meeting has been called to discuss public defender services. The agreement
with Jefferson Associated Council (lAC) expires December 31,2007. In addition, JAC is not accepting any
new cases in District Court for the remainder of 2007 due to the increased case load. The Board also needs
to know if JAC has fulfilled the oftheterms oftheir current contract, including the quarterly report
requirement.
Superior Court Administrator Michelle Moore stated that JAC has not filed quarterly reports since the first
quarter of2006. Commissioner Sullivan reviewed correspondence from JAC to alert District Court that they
were nearing the maximum number of District Court cases in 2007. District Court Judge Jill Landes stated
that she is currently assigning cases to JAC and they are being reassigned to the conflict attorneys. Ifthis
continues, the Court may have to assign cases to local counsel who aren't on the conflict attorney list.
There was a discussion about the reason for the dramatic increase in the number of cases for 2007. Richard
Davies, JAC, explained the method they use to determine the number of cases. The recommended
Washington State Bar Association (WSBA) standards for public defense in District Court is 300 cases per
year per attorney. There is currently a movement in the State to hold counties accountable to these public
defense standards. The number of cases per year in the 2005-2007 public defender contract is 510. They are
currently at 978 and are concerned about the level of service they can provide due to the current workload.
JAC has submitted a proposal to the County for 2008-2009 public defender services at a much higher rate
because they need to hire another full time attorney. For the past few years they have subsidized the County
by taking on the cases at no additional charge, but the number of cases was not this high. The Board
expressed concerns about not having this matter brought to their attention sooner.
The County Administrator noted that the County is not required to advertise an RFP for public defender
services according to the State statute. Commissioner Sullivan suggested extending the contract with JAC
for 3 months until the RFP process is completed, a firm is chosen, and an agreement is signed. The Public
Defender stated that they need the assurance of a 2 year contract at this time because they have to hire
another attorney to handle the caseload. The Board reviewed the RFP process and discussed the financial
risk of having to pay local attorney's current fees until the RFP is awarded.
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Commissioners Meeting Minutes: December 12, 2007 Special Meeting
The Board directed staff to put together a draft RFP for public defender services, confirm the statute that
allows the County to bypass the RFP process, work on a solution for paying public defender services in
District Court until there is an agreement in place for 2008, and have the proposal from JAC available for
review at their next regularly scheduled meeting.
NOTICE OF ADJOURNMENT: Commissioner Sullivan moved to adjourn the meeting at
5:02 p.m. to the next regular meeting on December 17, 2007. Commissioner Austin seconded the motion
which carried by a unanimous vote.
MEETING ADJOURNED
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JEFFERSON COUNTY
BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS
Phil J hnson, Chair
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