Reports

• Public Defense Improvement Program

• The Parents Representation Program

• RCW 71.09 Civil Commitment

Public Defense Improvement Program

Proposal for Administration of Defense Services For Indigent Persons Involved in Proceedings Under Chapter 10.77 RCW (Criminally Insane)

Pursuant to a proviso in the 2022 supplemental state operating budget, OPD developed a Proposal to provide indigent defense in post-commitment insanity acquittal cases under Chapter 10.77 RCW. If approved by the Legislature, OPD would contract with qualified attorneys to provide representation in ongoing legal proceedings for persons who are found “not guilty by reason of insanity” and committed to state psychiatric care.  View full proposal [PDF] 

Status Report on Public Defense in Washington State

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

  2019 |    2018

  2017 |    2016    |    2015

  2014 |     2013   |    2012

  2011 |     2010   |    2009

  2008 |     2007   |    2006

Criteria and Standards for Determining and Verifying Indigency

  2014 Report

  2007 Update

  2001 Report

Various Reports on Local Criminal/Juvenile Public Defense Issues

  2021 Defending Clients in the COVID-19 Environment: Survey Results from Private and Public Defense Counsel

  2019 Audit of Trial-Level Compliance with the Standards for Indigent Defense

  2016 Plan to Reform Public Defense Representation in Juvenile Offender Cases: Steps to Eliminate Justice by Geography

  2014 House Judiciary Workgroup on Misdemeanor Public Defense Costs in Washington State

  2013 Report to the WA Supreme Court on Implementation of the Standards for Indigent Defense

  2010 The Public Defense Pilot Project by Dr. Bill Luchansky

Reduced caseloads for public defense attorneys in three courts resulted in faster resolution of charges and improved representation.

  2008 DWLS 3 Survey of Courts of Limited Jurisdiction

The Parents Representation Program  

• Evaluation of the Impact of Enhanced Parental Legal Representation on the Timing of Permanency Outcomes
  by Dr. Mark Courtney of the University of Chicago and Dr. Jennifer Hook of Partners for Our Children of the University of Washington
  • See also Children and Youth Services Review, Volume 34, Issue 7, July 2012, pages 1337-1343

  2011 Follow-up to Case Resolution Study

  2006 Positive Outcomes of the Parents Representation Pilot Program

  2003 Improving Parents' Representation in Dependency Cases
by the National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges

  2001 Pilot Interim Evaluation

  1999 Cost of Defense and Children's Representation in Dependency and Termination Cases

RCW 71.09 Civil Commitment 

  2020 Annual Report on the Chapter 71.09 RCW Indigent Defense Representation Program [PDF]

  2019 Annual Report on the Chapter 71.09 RCW Indigent Defense Representation Program

  2018 Annual Report on the Chapter 71.09 RCW Indigent Defense Representation Program

  2017 Annual Report on the Chapter 71.09 RCW Indigent Defense Representation Program

  2016 Annual Report on the Chapter 71.09 RCW Indigent Defense Representation Program

  2015 Annual Report on the Chapter 71.09 RCW Indigent Defense Representation Program

  2014 Annual Report on the Chapter 71.09 RCW Indigent Defense Representation Program

  2013 Annual Report on the Chapter 71.09 RCW Indigent Defense Representation Program

  2011 Proposal for the Administration of Defense Services for Indigent Persons Involved in Proceedings Under Chapter 71.09 RCW