Senate majority leader lauds funding for fair Spokane County trials

OLYMPIA – Spokane County will receive nearly $2 million in new funding for two programs designed to improve public defense services, the Washington State Office of Public Defense (OPD) recently announced.

“A fair trial is a fundamental right, and it is the state’s duty to assure that right is upheld for all of our citizens,” said Senate Majority Leader Lisa Brown, D-Spokane, who helped secure the funding.

A 2004 blue ribbon panel pointed to inadequate funding as the “root cause for unacceptably high caseloads and other shortcomings in the provision of indigent defense.”

In response, the 2006 Legislature provided $3 million for improved public defense at the county level. The funds are pro-rated to each county based on their population and the number of Superior Court criminal cases. The state also established a separate program to improve representation of parents in dependency and termination proceedings in juvenile court.

“If parents in these proceedings do not have adequate legal representation, they will not be able to demonstrate to the court that they have learned how to provide a safe environment and adequate care for their children,” said OPD Director Joanne Moore. “It is imperative that the children be protected, and state law also requires families to be maintained wherever possible. This program will help accomplish both goals.”

OPD will administer the new funding to Spokane County, which will cover the cost of 13 attorneys as well as expert and social services that will aid parents and their attorneys in these cases.

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