PORT ANGELES — Clallam County will charge the city of Sequim $66,444 this year for handling its district court cases under a new agreement that commissioners signed Tuesday.
The flat filing fee is based on the number of Sequim cases heard in Clallam County District Court No. 1 over the past three years.
The one-year agreement was signed by the Sequim City Council on Feb. 13. It expires Dec. 31.
County Administrator Jim Jones said the county will negotiate new agreements with the cities for 2013 and beyond if they do not form their own municipal courts, an idea that Port Angeles, Sequim and Forks have discussed.
“We’ve got to decide by the end of July,” Jones said.
Sequim City Attorney Craig Ritchie said the most likely option for Sequim would be to start a new court with the city of Port Angeles using a traveling circuit judge.
Another possibility would be to link up with the Jefferson County court system through a remote TV.
Better position
Ritchie added that Sequim would be in a better position to start its own municipal court once the new city hall is completed.
Clallam County arrived at the 2012 cost to Sequim by determining the rolling average of Sequim cases heard in municipal court in 2008, 2009 and 2010, which works out to 1,167 cases per year.
Sequim cases accounted for 10.03 percent of the 11,628-per-year average of total cases.
The budgeted cost for Clallam County District Court in 2012 is $662,454, and 10.03 percent of that cost is $66,444.
“It was cheaper than last year, so that was good,” Ritchie said.
Port Angeles’ share for 2012 was $144,538. Port Angeles cases accounted for 17.29 percent of the total.
Last fall, the Clallam County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office said it wanted the cities to prosecute some of their drug and theft cases.
Facing a $196,932 budget shortfall, Prosecuting Attorney Deb Kelly said she wanted to focus her limited resources on prosecuting crimes of violence against people.
The result would be additional costs for the cities of Port Angeles, Forks and Sequim — which are facing their own budget cutbacks — and possibly softer penalties for some criminals, city officials have said.
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Reporter Rob Ollikainen can be reached at 360-417-3537 or at rob.ollikainen@peninsuladailynews.com.
