AWC-supported HB 1592 was resurrected just before cutoff with potential good news for cities.
The bill was introduced last year during the 2025 legislative session. Originally, it only provided funding for counties. It was amended last year to include some funding for cities but died before a critical cutoff.
Last week, in the final moments before another critical fiscal cutoff deadline, the bill was revived, heard in committee, and amended again with changes in how public defense funding flows to cities.
The brand-new version importantly removes a grant application requirement, making the funding allocation more streamlined for cities. The new funding distribution would be based on case counts rather than administratively intensive and competitive grants.
The bill was voted out of committee with amendments.
The new bill, with amendments, now:
- Changes the grant to a distribution: The bill changes city moneys in the grant to an allocation formula based on the annual number of misdemeanor cases filed in a city or for which the city must cover defense costs.
- Creates OPD reporting requirements: The bill requires the Office of Public Defense (OPD) to examine and recommend how to reduce caseloads and backlogs and increase staffing retention.
- Creates AOC reporting requirements: The bill requires the Administrative Office of the Courts (AOC) to collect data on public defender caseloads and include it in its annual report.
However, the bill would retain the 90% counties and 10% cities funding split of state allocations as outlined in RCW 10.101. In the limited available data on local government public defense funding, cities are spending substantially more than 20% (and likely upwards of 25%) of the statewide local government share for indigent defense services.
Reach out to your legislators to support this bill and ask that cities receive a larger share of the state’s funding.
Background
After the legislative session ended in April 2025, the Washington Supreme Court issued lower caseload standards two months later in June.
AWC is reminding legislators of the vast expense of the service that cities provide, which is expected to triple over the next decade as local governments meet the new caseload standards. Cities are responsible for 65% of misdemeanor cases and 54% of all criminal cases overall (including the public defense costs).
Washington is one of only five states in the U.S. where public defense is funded significantly by local budgets. About 90% of our state’s small public defense allocation goes to counties. For cities, OPD grants cover only 3% of the conservatively estimated $54 million in known annual municipal costs.