PORT ANGELES — Government officials have agreed that Clallam County should take over responsibilities for adjudication, prosecution, public defense and jailing services under one contract, saying the plan would save the city of Port Angeles money and increase the county’s revenue.
The county, not the city, would handle all misdemeanors occurring within the city limits, under City Council action that took place at Tuesday’s council meeting.
To realize the anticipated budget benefits, the plan depends on Sequim also handing over its criminal justice services in a similar fashion, county Administrator Jim Jones said Wednesday.
Sequim City Council members will discuss the merger plan Monday at a work session that will precede their 6 p.m. regular meeting at the Sequim Civic Center, City Attorney Craig Ritchie said Wednesday.
Sequim, Port Angeles and the county all have separate prosecutorial services, with the county already handling felonies countywide.
Port Angeles has separate contracts with the county for district court services, jail services, indigent defense and supplemental services such as a diversion program.
City Attorney Bill Bloor’s office handles misdemeanors, which would become county Prosecuting Attorney Mark Nichols’ responsibility.
“They would be managing a unified caseload,” Bloor said Wednesday.
“What I see is fundamentally different than what has gone on in the past.”
Port Angeles council members voted 5-0 Tuesday for the plan, with Mayor Dan Di Guilio and Councilman Lee Whetham absent, directing City Manager Dan McKeen to negotiate a $775,000 agreement with the county for 2016.
“It makes sense for us to consolidate and let the county prosecutor do all prosecutions of misdemeanor and gross misdemeanors,” Bloor told council members.
“That’s the kind of thing citizens would expect government to do.”
The pact would save the city an estimated $94,900, according to Jones, and would result in the loss of at least one staff member in Bloor’s office.
Jones said a county-Sequim pact would save Sequim an estimated $91,827.
District Court I would keep all fines and fees it collects from Port Angeles and Sequim starting Jan. 1 instead of sending net collections to each city.
“For all this to work, we have to have Sequim’s money, too,” Jones said.
If Sequim decides against a contract similar to the one anticipated between the county and Port Angeles, “we would have to re-evaluate the numbers,” Jones said.
Jones said in that case, the monetary benefits to Port Angeles and the county would diminish.
If Sequim and Port Angeles contract with the county, Nichols’ staff would increase by two attorneys and two support staff.
Sequim currently contracts out for prosecutorial and public defender services.
If the county performs those functions, “there should be an economy of scale,” Ritchie said.
“It looks like it should work.
“It’s just a question of how the money works out.”
Jones said Forks and the rest of the West End already have their own district court and jail and have not been part of the consolidation discussion.
Port Angeles’ criminal justice costs have risen by more than 300 percent over the past 10 years.
“We have struggled with this issue of rising costs that were budget busters every year,” Councilwoman Cherie Kidd said Tuesday.
“This makes sense. This makes good sense.”
District Court 1 Judge Rick Porter agreed.
“This is a great idea because of the consistencies it will bring to the prosecution of crimes,” he told the council.
The fear of loss of local control if the plan moves forward “has been pretty much dispelled,” McKeen said Tuesday.
As an elected official, Nichols “is responsible to the entire county to ensure consistency in how things are applied across the county,” he said.
Nichols said Wednesday there would not be a loss of local control.
“The treatment of city cases will be no different than that of county cases,” he said.
Nichols said the consolidation model is being successfully employed in other jurisdictions in Washington state as an avenue for streamlining.
Port Angeles officials said in October 2013 that because of budget constraints, Bloor’s office could no longer accept minor felony cases referred from the county Prosecuting Attorney’s Office, then headed by Deborah Kelly.
“After we made that public announcement, the situation kind of resolved itself,” Bloor said.
“The number of referrals from the county significantly decreased.”
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Senior Staff Writer Paul Gottlieb can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 5060, or at pgottlieb@peninsuladailynews.com.
