HomeMy WebLinkAboutCriminal Justice Nov 8 2023 11.8Council Criminal Justice and Public Safety Committee
COUNTY COURTHOUSE
311 Grand Avenue, Ste #105
Bellingham, WA 98225-4038
(360)778-5010
Committee Minutes - Final
Wednesday, November 8, 2023
11:50 AM
Hybrid Meeting
HYBRID MEETING - ADJOURNS BY 12:15 P.M., MAY BEGIN EARLY
(PARTICIPATE IN -PERSON, SEE REMOTE JOIN INSTRUCTIONS AT
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COUNCILMEMBERS
Barry Buchanan
Tyler Byrd
Carol Frazey
CLERK OF THE COUNCIL
Dana Brown -Davis, C.M.C.
Council Criminal Justice and Public Committee Minutes - Final November 8, 2023
Safety Committee
Call To Order
Roll Call
Committee Chair Barry Buchanan called the meeting to order at 11:05 a.m.
in a hybrid meeting.
Present: 3 Barry Buchanan, Tyler Byrd, and Carol Frazey
Also Present: Todd Donovan, Ben Elenbaas, and Kaylee Galloway
Announcements
Special Presentation
1. AB2023-722 Report from the Prosecuting Attorney's Office
Eric Richey, Whatcom County Prosecuting Attorney, spoke about a budget
request for additional staff resources in the Prosecuting Attorney's Office.
His office currently has 187 cases per prosecutor. He stated he is asking
for thirteen positions, including six criminal attorneys, three legal
assistants, two victim advocates, one criminal paralegal, and one supervisor
for the legal support staff, and he spoke about reasons for his request. He
answered whether we increased the Prosecuting Attorney's staff with
American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) dollars and whether those positions will
have to be funded in the General Fund, how much the request would cost,
and whether there is any money we can get from the State.
Tyler Schroeder, Director of Administrative Services, answered why none
of these positions were included in the Executive's budget. He stated the
Administration got a total of about $4 million in FTE asks on an annual
basis from the criminal justice departments for the biennium. The Council
has also provided over $2 million a year of ARPA funds for criminal justice
in the last three years that will be rolled into the General Fund. He spoke
about deficit spending which is burning the fund balance and stated that is
without these positions. He suggested there be a policy conversation about
case resolution, case filing, and attorney workloads in the Prosecuting
Attorney's Office and the Public Defender's Office and the way the court
system interacts with them. His lesson from the last couple years is that
just hiring staff has not solved the caseload issue.
The speakers and Councilmembers discussed both Richey's and
Schroeder's comments, the fact that the Public Defender has caseload
limits and that limit will not change by bringing on new prosecutors,
whether the Public Defender's caseload standards might be changing in the
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Council Criminal Justice and Public Committee Minutes - Final November 8, 2023
Safety Committee
near future, whether the Council should support even part of the request and
what "meeting half way" might look like, why prosecutors' cases are not
resolving and the role of the judges in that, how caseloads could be brought
down and resolution of cases sped up, how much time and energy the
Prosecutor's Office spends on fentanyl related crimes and whether there is
federal money available when you have a declared emergency, looking at
criminal justice requests more holistically in the future to make sure
funding is proportionate across departments, whether it is realistic for the
Prosecuting Attorney's Office to add all these positions in a year, asking
the judges what positions they would need if these positions are granted,
and whether the requested positions will help get cases resolved.
This agenda item was REPORTED.
Items Added by Revision
Other Business
Adiournment
There were no agenda items added by revision.
There was no other business.
The meeting adjourned at 12:01 p.m.
ATTEST:
WHATCOM COUNTY COUNCIL
WHATCOM COUNTY, WA
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Barry Buchanan -via email 11/20/2023
Dana Brown. Davis, ,Council Clerk
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Kristi Felbinger, Minutes Transcription
Barry Buchanan, Committee Chair
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