Clark County District Court officials say they are cutting back on filings of probation violations in order to address a shortage of available defense attorneys amid “unprecedented” misdemeanor and municipal case filings.
In a letter sent to members of the Clark County Bar Association, the District Court bench said it has worked with officials from the Vancouver City Attorney’s Office, the Clark County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office and the county’s new public defense office to try to come up with solutions.
“However, to date, these efforts remain unsuccessful,” the letter states.
The court also asked for attorneys to volunteer to accept additional contracts to represent indigent defendants, otherwise the court said it will need to appoint attorneys to cases.
“In the hopefully unlikely event that volunteers are not forthcoming, the court’s duty would be to appoint attorneys to represent indigent defendants pursuant to the authority provided above,” the letter states. “For many reasons, the court hopes this does not become necessary, but the constitutional right to counsel cannot be ignored.”
Christie Emrich, who leads Vancouver Defenders, the firm contracted to handle District Court cases, said the case filings this year have been higher than ever. She said each year her office estimates the number of cases it will handle and hires attorneys accordingly. This year, the team of seven attorneys was slated to handle 2,800 cases, but she said they’ve nearly reached that caseload with three more months left in the year.
“In my career here, 17 years, we’ve never been in this position,” Emrich said.
Emrich said when she “sounded the alarm” that her firm was scheduled to max out its contracts early, the court was proactive at looking at what it could control to bring down filings. The county’s probation services office is overseen by District Court, so the court controls when a misdemeanor violation is filed.
District Court Administrator Bryan Farrell said the court will delay filing some probation violations to allow people to work toward getting back in compliance with their conditions. But the court will still regularly file other violations, he said, like violations of electronic home monitoring or alcohol monitoring.
“This was a difficult decision by the court as probation models show the sooner we can get probationers into court to address violations the better we are able to address their underlying needs,” Farrell said in an email to The Columbian.
“There may be public safety concerns implicated when individuals are not satisfying their court-ordered conditions, but the court also recognizes the public safety concern in being able to process new charges as they come into the court,” Farrell said.
Emrich said with the court being choosier about which violations to bring back to court, it should extend her office’s capacity for more serious gross misdemeanors for the rest of the year.
Emrich said she doesn’t think the answer is as simple as hiring more defense attorneys.
“There is a limited number of resources for the entire criminal justice system, and I think everyone has to do their part to make sure we’re being a good steward of those resources,” Emrich said.
Prosecutor Tony Golik said his office does not intend to change the way it files cases in light of a shortage of defense capacity.
“Prosecutors have a duty to file cases that meet the statutory elements and have the necessary proof,” Golik said.
Vancouver City Attorney Jonathan Young said his office has not changed the way it files cases, but his prosecution team is “mindful of the need to address the shortfall of public defense attorneys and preserve our justice system’s capacity to adjudicate offenses that pose the highest risks to our community.”
Golik said it can be common for defense attorneys under the contract model to reach their limits around this time of year, but he sees that as an issue for the county council, county manager and county public defense office to ensure adequate staffing.
The county is shifting from contracting with indigent defense attorneys to hiring staff attorneys for the new Office of Public Defense. The county appointed a director for the office, Christopher Swaby, who began in July.
Swaby said in an emailed statement to The Columbian, “We are committed to helping address this attorney shortage. The criminal justice system fails if our citizens charged with crimes do not have competent representation.”
Golik said the increase in case filings was “not huge,” although Clark County’s growing population does make for more cases. He said he doesn’t see the number of cases law enforcement refers to prosecutors decreasing next year.
While Emrich agreed filings aren’t likely to decrease, she said her office will be better equipped to prepare for a similar pace next year.
“I think we will have a better handle on it going into 2025 because we can plan for it,” Emrich said. “But this increase caught everyone by surprise.”
Editor’s note: This story has been updated to include a response from District Court Administrator Bryan Farrell.
