PORT ANGELES — The American Civil Liberties Union investigated complaints about the Clallam County District Court 1 program overseen by Judge Rick Porter in 2014 and was pleased by steps taken to clarify it to defendants.
The review centered on reports of individuals who used the pay-or-appear program not always being fully apprised of their rights and options, Vivian Hernandez, an attorney with the ACLU, told the Peninsula Daily News on March 2, 2014.
District Court was “definitely taking steps to address those concerns,” Hernandez said at the time.
ACLU spokesman Doug Honig said Wednesday: “We were encouraged by the county’s original response.
“Specifically, they gave clearer advisement to defendants that they have to have an ability to pay and there may be a possibility of waiving or reducing their fine in some situations,” Honig said.
“We haven’t received any individual complaints about Clallam County since then.”
The ACLU has not recently examined the pay-or-appear program in Clallam, Honig added.
“We’d certainly want to hear from anyone who has experienced legal financial obligations being imposed improperly or from people who can’t afford to pay with having [legal financial obligations] imposed on them without that ability to pay.”
Pay-or-appear
Under Clallam District Court’s pay-or-appear, if those who are delinquent in paying fines don’t appear in court with an explanation, they can be picked up on a $150 warrant and incarcerated in the Clallam County jail.
One of seven people incarcerated between Tuesday and Wednesday this week in the Clallam County jail was arrested on a pay-or-appear warrant, according to the Sheriffs Office’s Jail Movement and Fresh Arrest Report.
“Virtually everyone is put on the program except the truly indigent,” Porter said Thursday.
“The vast majority that get sentenced ask to be put on the program.”
Anyone who does not pay a fine in full is put on the pay-or-appear program.
Community service
The program includes an option to do community service, under which $10 an hour is credited to defendants’ fines.
“The critical difference between ours and Benton is that we allow community service to pay off fines,” Porter said.
“That’s one of the things the ACLU really liked about our program, was that opportunity.”
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Senior Staff Writer Paul Gottlieb can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 55650, or at pgottlieb@peninsuladailynews.com.
