Welcome

The mission of the Washington State Office of Public Defense (OPD) is "to implement the constitutional and statutory guarantees of counsel and to ensure the effective and efficient delivery of indigent defense services funded by the state... ."  RCW 2.70.005.  Established by the Legislature in 1996, OPD is an independent agency of the judicial branch.

OPD administers indigent defense services in the following areas:

• Appellate Program
• Parents Representation Program
• RCW 71.09 Civil Commitment
• Extraordinary Criminal Justice Costs
• Public Defense Improvement Program
  • Indigency Screening
  • Implementation of the Supreme Court's Standards for Indigent Defense
  • Chapter 10.101 RCW Public Defense Improvement Funds
  • Resources- Juvenile Offender Cases

OPD cannot provide direct representation of clients, pursuant to RCW 2.70.020.

Featured News:

2017 Status Report on Local Criminal Public Defense Issues

The 2017 Status Report on Public Defense in Washington State  discusses recent trends in criminal public defense services, highlights annual accomplishments of OPD's Defense Improvement Program, and lists counties' and cities' statistics relating to public defense services.

Juvenile Defense Training Academy Graduates

OPD has instituted a Juvenile Defense Academy featuring a curriculum that recognizes Juvenile Defense as a specialized practice area. The four-day course covers many important aspects of juvenile public defense and is based on the national Juvenile Defender Center’s curriculum.  Graduates of the 2017 Academy are as follows:

• Sharonda Amamilo
• Trena Berton
• Michael Borge
• Tirsa Butler
• Lawrence Delay
• Krista Elliott
• Patricia Fassett
• Susan Goolsbee
• Clarence Henderson
• Amy Jones
• Amanda Kleespie
• Ashwin Kumar
• Megan Manlove
• Michael Morris
• Alexandra Narvaez
• Kathy Prunty

Tools for Implementing the Supreme Court's Standards for Indigent Defense

To assist in implementation of the Supreme Court Standards for Indigent Defense, OPD has developed a series of short web tutorials, an FAQ, sample caseload calculators, and a customizable Model Misdemeanor Case Weighting Policy .   Additional questions or requests for technical assistance can be sent to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..