The Washington State Legislature approved funding for OPD to implement a limited number of Public Defense Pilot Programs in local jurisdictions in the state. There are currently three pilot programs in operation.  The first began operating in Bellingham Municipal Court on December 1, 2005.  On January 1, 2006 pilots began operating in Thurston County District Court and Grant County Juvenile Court.

In Bellingham Municipal Court, the pilot program along with increased local funding provides an additional 2 FTE attorneys, a full time investigator, a .5 FTE social worker and a .5 FTE paralegal.  In addition to reducing attorney case loads and providing additional support staff, one of the immediate benefits of the pilot program is that defendants are now provided counsel at first appearance/arraignment calendars.

In Thurston County District Court, the pilot program provides an additional 2.5 FTE attorneys and a full time paralegal.  This will provide much needed assistance to public defenders who have been handling high caseloads.

In Grant County Juvenile Court, the pilot program provides funding for an additional 1.25 FTE attorneys and a .5 FTE social worker to work with the new 1.25 FTE attorneys by Grant County funding.  This pilot project will work to improve and expand the defense services provided to juveniles accused of crimes in Grant County.

The overall purpose of the pilot programs is to gather data to determine best practices to improve the quality of defense services.   The pilot programs will assist the local jurisdictions in implementing recognized public defense standards in such areas as attorney qualifications, training and supervision, reduced case loads and increased utilization of support services such as investigators, social workers and paralegals.