PORT ANGELES — Clallam County Commissioner Mike Chapman has advocated forming a screening committee to help the board select an indigent defense provider.
The county’s current contract with Clallam Public Defender expires at the end of this year, and the nonprofit’s bid was $50,000 more than the $1.14 million that the county budgeted for public defense.
Three options
Commissioners are faced with three options for indigent defense: renew a contract with Clallam Public Defender, hire former prosecuting attorney William Payne’s firm or bring public defense in-house.
“Ultimately, I’m not qualified to make such a momentous decision,” Chapman said in Tuesday’s business meeting.
“I think it would be really wise to set up a committee, a screening committee, of a retired judge, a retired prosecutor, a retired public defender, to screen the contracts and have them make a recommendation back to the board.”
Commissioners discussed indigent defense at length during Monday’s work session. They plan to revisit the topic Monday.
Two bids received
Clallam County received bid proposals from Clallam Public Defender and Sequim-based Payne Law P.S. The bids were summarized by County Administrator Jim Jones but were not presented to the board.
“Before we bring this back up, I think the board should see the contracts, the bids,” Chapman said.
“For me, the non-starter is not seeing the bids. We have to see those as a board.”
Clallam Public Defender, which has a long-standing relationship with the county, bid $1.19 million to represent clients in both district courts and Superior Court, which includes juvenile court.
Payne Law bid $418,000 to represent offenders in District Court and to handle appeals in Superior Court, Jones said in a Dec. 2 memo to the board.
Jones noted weaknesses in both proposals, saying District Court Judge Rick Porter and Clallam Public Defender Director Harry Gasnick have a “long-standing and very serious professional/personal dispute” and Commissioner Jim McEntire and Payne have a “close personal relationship.”
McEntire, who leaves office at the end of this month, said Monday he would disclose his friendship with Payne if he were to vote on a contract with Payne’s firm.
Gasnick has declined to comment on the matter. Porter was not immediately available for comment Wednesday.
‘Issue of contention’
Charter Review Commission Chairwoman Norma Turner, who was speaking for herself Tuesday, told commissioners that adversarial relationships between judges and attorneys are good for clients.
“If you look at the whole legal system, it’s based on the issue of contention,” Turner said.
“So I would hope that you would not see a contention as a negative but rather as a consistent reality of how the system works.”
Jones in his memo recommended that commissioners select Payne Law for District Court and rebid public defense for Superior Court, but only if commissioners could reach that conclusion unanimously.
Commissioner Bill Peach said Monday he favored competition and “bringing some fresh blood into the process.”
McEntire agreed that law firms should compete for a contract with the county.
Chapman touted Clallam Public Defender’s 30-year track record of providing a quality constitutional service to those who can’t afford an attorney.
Conclusion
After hearing the discussion, Jones concluded Monday that the board should reject the bids and negotiate a one-year extension with Clallam Public Defender to give commissioners time to reach a long-term solution.
Chapman recommended the screening committee because “none of us have practiced law.”
“I think if we were to go down that road, it would eliminate the consternation, and both competing bids could then move forward, having been peer-reviewed,” Chapman said.
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Reporter Rob Ollikainen can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 5072, or at rollikainen@peninsuladailynews.com.
