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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCriminal Justice May 21 2024Whatcom County Council Criminal Justice and Public Safety Committee COUNTY COURTHOUSE 311 Grand Avenue, Ste #105 Bellingham, WA 98225-4038 (360)778-5010 Committee Minutes - Final Tuesday, May 21, 2024 1:45 PM Hybrid Meeting HYBRID MEETING - ADJOURNS BY 2:10 P.M., MAY BEGIN EARLY (PARTICIPATE IN -PERSON, SEE REMOTE JOIN INSTRUCTIONS AT www.whatcomcounty.us/joinvirtualcouncil, OR CALL 360.778.5010) COUNCILMEMBERS Barry Buchanan Tyler Byrd Jon Scanlon CLERK OF THE COUNCIL Dana Brown -Davis, C.M.C. Council Criminal Justice and Public Committee Minutes - Final May 21, 2024 Safety Committee Call To Order ROIL Call Committee Chair Barry Buchanan called the meeting to order at 1:33 p.m. in a hybrid meeting. Present: 3 - Barry Buchanan, Tyler Byrd, and Jon Scanlon Also Present: Todd Donovan, Ben Elenbaas, Kaylee Galloway, and Mark Stremler Announcements Special Presentation 1. AQ2024­33.1 Report from Superior Court Administration and Clerk The following people read from a presentation (on file): • Raylene King, Superior Court Clerk • Stephanie Kraft, Superior Court Administrator They explained how they got to be here as two separate department heads. In 2023, there was an ethics opinion that opined that it is important that there is a clear separation between the judicial and executive branches. As of November 20, 2023, the County now has a stand-alone clerk's office and a separate court administration, which has not been the case since 1988. They stated the Superior and Juvenile Court Administrator is under the presiding judge and the Superior Court Clerk is under the Executive. They described the role of each position and the programs they operate, and the organizational structure of staff for each department. Kraft spoke about what Superior Court Administration does, case statistics, recent achievements, and current challenges of the court. David E. Freeman, Judge, Department 4, spoke about the separation of powers in Superior Court in the context of the water adjudication process. He also spoke about some of the challenges they have with the adjudication proceeding, such as the need for facilities. He stated he will likely be coming to Council and asking them to approve the court to hear cases outside of the county seat and that will also take the permission of the Chief Justice of the Washington State Supreme Court if they go that route. The fact remains that they will not have a fifth judge courtroom until at least September of 2025 but the position will likely be starting this summer. Whatcom County Page I Council Criminal Justice and Public Committee Minutes - Final May 21, 2024 Safety Committee He spoke about the second challenge which has to do with the separation of powers and hiring. He stated they need the flexibility to be able to hire their own positions. Those are General Rule (GR) 29 positions, meaning that they are positions supervised by the court and hired by the court with funds from the State judiciary. He stated they need to be more efficient on how they can make that happen quickly so that they can properly respond to the water adjudication for which they are adding about five or six positions over the course of the last year and going into 2024. There will also likely be a need for some independent legal advice to ensure that the judiciary is getting advice with respect to them being a separate branch of government. He answered what conflicts they are trying to avoid by getting independent counsel outside of the Prosecuting Attorney's Office, and stated it is important that their representation be separate from that of the County in general. While the Prosecuting Attorney's Office may be able to represent them, they need to be clear that they are representing them on behalf of the judiciary, a separate branch of government. He answered whether separating the Clerk's Office from Superior Court helps that, and stated it is working and the conflicts are resolving. He answered whether there is something in the Code or Charter that prevents the court from hiring the way they want to and stated he is not sure it is Code -related or policy -related but they are having to jump through a number of hurdles in order to hire staff at a rate they would like. They are also having policy challenges with contracts. He stated they need to find efficiencies in the system so they are not leaving State funds on the table, and particularly with this water adjudication. He answered what options he has been looking into for court space, what he thinks it would take to get people in the courtroom and out of jail to make sure there is equal access to justice, what they see and hear from jurors that are barriers to fulfilling that duty, and whether he has recommendations regarding separating out duties within Juvenile Court. Kraft stated they will have to look at that separation for the long term. For the short term, they could add additional management support for the Court Administrator. They could also add a probation manager. Judge Freeman answered what the procedure should be for an elected official, such as a councilmember or the Executive, who has water rights and whether it would be a conflict for them to go before him as the assigned Superior Court Judge. He spoke generally about some of the issues that could arise and what the court is doing to address them. He stated the water code does provide for specific examples of recusal and when that is necessary. Whatcom County Page 2 Council Criminal Justice and Public Committee Minutes - Final May 21, 2024 Safety Committee King continued the presentation on the purpose of the Superior Court Clerk's Office, the offices under the Clerk, and implications of changes in the court including e-filing and water adjudication. 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 2:23 p.m. ATTEST: Dana:Browr-W ts�, Cy*il clerk- Qo H we /\ 1 l r` -€° V\1V°Y-10 A i �. v �,,, �.. u �-b-r.,�r a e� ✓ � Kristi Felbinger, Minutes Transcription WHATCOM COUNTY COUNCIL WHATCOM COUNTY, WA Barry Buchanan -via email 5/30/2024 Barry Buchanan, Committee Chair miateom County Page 3