Objectives and minimum requirements for providing legal representation to indigent persons accused of crimes or facing juvenile or civil commitment proceedings in Lewis County.
(Ord. 1199, 2007; Ord. 1364, 2025; Ord. 1371 (Att. A), 2025)
These standards represent the efforts of Lewis County to address the problems of providing legal representation to indigent persons accused of crimes, or facing juvenile or civil commitment proceedings, and to comply with the requirements of RCW 10.101.030. Drawing on the practical experience of defense attorneys around the state and on existing state and national standards which set forth the objectives and minimum requirements for public defender and assigned counsel programs, these standards are intended to help the board of county commissioners ("BOCC"), through the county administration, and in consultation with the judges of the superior court, establish a public defense system which operates efficiently and meets the federal and state constitutional requirements for effective assistance of counsel.
(Ord. 1199, 2007; Ord. 1341 (Exh. A), 2022; Ord. 1364, 2025; Ord. 1371 (Att. A), 2025)
Reasonable compensation shall be provided to private attorneys who enter into contracts with Lewis County to serve as public defenders. Compensation will reflect the time and labor required to be spent by the attorney and the degree of professional experience demanded by the case. Counsel shall be compensated for out-of-pocket expenses.
Contracts shall provide for the payment of extraordinary compensation over and above the normal contract terms for cases which require an extraordinary amount of time and preparation, including, but not limited to, death penalty cases. Services which require extraordinary fees should be defined in the contract.
(Ord. 1199, 2007; Ord. 1364, 2025; Ord. 1371 (Att. A), 2025)
The contract shall require that defense services be provided to all clients in a professional, skilled manner consistent with minimum standards set forth by the Washington State Bar Association for public defense, the American Bar Association standards, the Washington Rules of Professional Conduct, case law and applicable court rules defining the duties of counsel and the rights of defendants in criminal cases. Counsel's primary and most fundamental responsibility is to promote and protect the best interests of the client.
(Ord. 1199, 2007; Ord. 1341 (Exh. A), 2022; Ord. 1364, 2025; Ord. 1371 (Att. A), 2025)
The contract shall specify the types of cases for which representation shall be provided and the maximum number of cases which each attorney shall be expected to handle. The caseload of public defense attorneys should allow each lawyer to give each client the time and effort necessary to ensure effective representation. Contract attorneys shall not accept workloads that, by reason of their excessive size, interfere with the rendering of quality representation.
A "case" is defined as a filing of a document with the court naming a person as defendant or respondent.
Lewis County has adopted a case weighting policy for each court to be structured as follows:
Case weighting shall be determined by the public defender and assigned a value ranging from 0.1 to 2 case credits. In determining the appropriate case weight, the public defender shall consider their level of experience, the severity of the charge, the duration of the case, any special circumstances, and any other relevant factors that may affect the case.
Court | Case Credits |
|---|---|
District Court | 0.1 - 2 |
Superior Court | 0.1 - 2 |
Juvenile Court | 0.1 - 2 |
Caseload limits are determined by the number and type of cases being accepted and on the prosecutor's charging and plea-bargaining practices. Since contract public defenders may also maintain private law practices, the BOCC, through the county administration, shall ensure that attorneys not be assigned more cases than they can reasonably discharge. In these situations, the caseload ceiling should be based on the percentage of time the lawyer devotes to public defense.
(Ord. 1199, 2007; Ord. 1312 Exh. A, 2019; Ord. 1341 (Exh. A), 2022; Ord. 1352 (Exh. A), 2024; Ord. 1364, 2025; Ord. 1371 (Att. A), 2025)
Reasonable compensation for expert witnesses necessary to preparation and presentation of the defense case shall be provided. Expert witness fees should be maintained and allocated from funds separate from those provided for defender services. Requests for expert witness fees under CrR 3.1(f) and CrRLJ 3.1(f) should be made by motion. The defense should be free to retain the expert of its choosing and in no cases should be forced to select experts from a list pre-approved by the BOCC, the court or the prosecution.
(Ord. 1199, 2007; Ord. 1364, 2025; Ord. 1371 (Att. A), 2025)
In addition to establishing a reasonable fee for legal services provided, contracts to provide public defense services should take into consideration the administrative costs associated with providing legal representation. These costs may include travel, telephones, law library, financial accounting, case management systems, the reporting requirements imposed by these standards, and other costs necessarily incurred in the day to day management of the contract.
(Ord. 1199, 2007; Ord. 1364, 2025; Ord. 1371 (Att. A), 2025)
Public defenders under contract to provide representation for indigent people accused of crimes should employ investigators with criminal investigation training and experience, where appropriate, in providing legal representation in conformity with the ABA and WSBA standards. Said public defenders shall be reimbursed for the expense of the same upon motion showing need for same.
(Ord. 1199, 2007; Ord. 1364, 2025; Ord. 1371 (Att. A), 2025)
The contract should provide for the cost of access to social work staff, mental health professionals and other support services. These professionals are essential to ensure the effective performance of defense counsel during trial preparation, in the preparation of dispositional plans, and at sentencing.
(Ord. 1199, 2007; Ord. 1341 (Exh. A), 2022; Ord. 1364, 2025; Ord. 1371 (Att. A), 2025)
Each contract public defender or his/her office shall maintain a case-reporting and management information system which includes number and type of cases, attorney hours and disposition. This information shall be provided regularly to the BOCC, through the county administration, for criminal defense services and shall also be made available to the office of the administrator of the superior court for all other public defense services. Any such system shall be maintained independently from client files so as to disclose no privileged information.
A standardized invoice form shall be used by contract public defenders in seeking payment upon completion of a case. Payment shall be made monthly without regard to the number of cases closed in the period.
(Ord. 1199, 2007; Ord. 1341 (Exh. A), 2022; Ord. 1364, 2025; Ord. 1371 (Att. A), 2025)
Attorneys providing public defense services shall participate in regular training programs on criminal defense law, including a minimum of seven hours of continuing legal education annually in areas relating to their public defense practice, and provide proof of the same to superior court and the BOCC, through the county administration, upon request.
Every attorney providing counsel to indigent accused should have the opportunity to attend courses that foster trial advocacy skills and to review professional publications and tapes.
(Ord. 1199, 2007; Ord. 1341 (Exh. A), 2022; Ord. 1364, 2025; Ord. 1371 (Att. A), 2025)
Public defenders serve at the pleasure of the BOCC, through the county administration, and superior court judges. The terms of payment for legal services shall be negotiated with the BOCC, through the county administration, for all criminal defense services, and all other public defense appointments through superior court. The quality of professional performance will be overseen and reviewed by the BOCC, through the county administration, and the judges of superior court before whom they appear based on their respective contracts. The BOCC, through the county administration, for criminal defense services or superior court for other public defense services shall choose and assign cases to the public defender from the list of those who have contracted with the BOCC, through the county administration, or superior court for their respective public defense service needs. If the public defender chooses to accept assignment of cases, the specific terms of professional performance of such assignments shall be reflected in the standards within the respective public defense contract, and to which said contracted public defender shall be a signatory.
(Ord. 1199, 2007; Ord. 1341 (Exh. A), 2022; Ord. 1364, 2025; Ord. 1371 (Att. A), 2025)
The Lewis County plan for provision of public defense services should establish a procedure for systematic monitoring and evaluation of attorney performance based upon publicized criteria. Supervision and evaluation efforts should include review of time and caseload records, review and inspection of transcripts, in-court observations, and periodic conferences. Attorneys should be evaluated on their skill and effectiveness as criminal lawyers or as dependency or civil commitment advocates.
(Ord. 1199, 2007; Ord. 1364, 2025; Ord. 1371 (Att. A), 2025)
The attorney engaged by BOCC, through the county administration to provide public defense services in criminal matters, and to whom cases are assigned by superior court for all other required public defense services shall not subcontract with another firm or attorney to provide representation and shall remain directly involved in the provision of representation. The agreement should address the procedures for continuing representation of clients upon the conclusion of the agreement.
(Ord. 1199, 2007; Ord. 1341 (Exh. A), 2022; Ord. 1364, 2025; Ord. 1371 (Att. A), 2025)