Ruling will lighten load for Whatcom County public defenders. Is it sustainable?
Whatcom County’s public defenders will face new rules on how many cases they can take on next year as a recent decision by the Washington Supreme Court takes effect. And while the Public Defender’s Office is prepared for the first few years of the change, anxieties over the ability to fully comply with the limitations remain.
The ruling issued by the state Supreme Court will limit public defenders to 47 felony or 120 misdemeanor case credits each year beginning in 2026 — a more than two-thirds reduction in how many credits public defenders in Whatcom County can currently take on.
The credits that a case is worth are determined by the severity of the crime. In Whatcom County, felony cases range from half a credit to three credits.
The state Supreme Court’s decision uses the same caseload standards adopted by the Washington State Bar Association in March 2024. Jason Schwarz, chair of the association’s Council on Public Defense, said in a press release that the new standards “will provide public defenders with workable caseloads that allow them to effectively represent the accused.”
The Washington State Bar Association set a compliance deadline of July 2027 — one which Whatcom County Public Defender’s Office Director Starck Follis said was “doomed before it started.” Many public defender’s offices, including Whatcom County’s, lack the resources to hire more attorneys, which would be necessary to meet the new standards.
The Washington Supreme Court’s order gives public defender’s offices more wiggle room.
The order states that the new standards must be accomplished “as soon as reasonably possible,” with a maximum limit of 10 years. The court said that the standards can be reached with a “phased approach” in which cases are reduced by at least 10% of the difference between the current and new standards each year.
Follis said that the ability to gradually reduce caseloads gives the public defender’s office “a bit of a reprieve.” However, it will be “increasingly difficult” to comply with the ruling as the years go on without additional funding to hire more public defenders.
What is the goal of new caseload standards?
The reduction of caseloads for public defenders is meant to improve the quality of representation that people receive. Many of the guidelines are based on the results of the National Public Defense Workload Study, which was published in 2023 by the nonprofit think tank RAND Corporation.
The study enlisted experts to analyze 17 state-level public defense workload studies and come to an agreed-upon estimate of the average amount of time needed to provide “reasonably effective assistance” in a case.
The study found that the amount of time varies depending on the severity of the case. High-severity felony cases with a possible life sentence can take an average of 286 hours, while probation or parole violation cases require less than 14.
The panel recommended assigning weights to cases when determining how many an attorney can take on. In this weighting system, lower-level felonies like retail theft would only carry one credit, while higher-level felonies like murder and manslaughter carry seven credits. Cases in which a life sentence could be imposed would be worth eight credits, the most possible.
Misdemeanors would carry between one and 1.5 credits per case.
The Washington State Bar Association asked the Supreme Court to take on this weighting system. The court declined to make it mandatory but said it is “permissible and encouraged.”
Whatcom County introduced its own case weighting system in 2021, with cases ranging from half a credit to three credits depending on the severity. Public defenders can have 150 case credits annually for felony cases in Superior Court and 400 case credits for cases in District Court.
Follis agreed that lower caseloads lead to “better representation and a better ability to recruit and retain lawyers.” However, he questioned the applicability of the specific numbers recommended to every county’s individual needs and circumstances.
How will Whatcom County meet the standards?
Follis said that the current caseloads of the public defender’s office are already far enough below the maximum that the county will be able to comply with the annual 10% reduction for at least a few years. But as time goes on, attorneys won’t be able to reduce their caseloads if all other conditions remain the same.
The public defender’s office will need more funding — which the new mandate does not provide — to hire more attorneys to ensure that peoples’ constitutional right to representation can be met. Or, more optimistically, the rate of crime and cases themselves will have to go down.
Follis said ideally the caseload standards can be complied with because there are less cases to take on. This could be achieved through law enforcement diversion programs or an increased focus on addressing underlying behavioral health issues through initiatives like the one planned for the new Whatcom County Jail, Follis said.
“I’m hopeful that that will have a compounding effect of not only getting that person who is diverted out of the legal system, but providing them the services so they don’t go back into the legal system.”