SEQUIM — A Sequim municipal court is too expensive at this time, the City Council has decided.
Instead, the city will continue to use Clallam County services, at least for now.
The court specifically for the city could cost between $2.5 million and $3 million over five years plus about $156,000 in start-up costs, a consultant said.
“The costs are significant,” Sequim City Manager Charlie Bush told City Council members Feb. 25.
This year, the city will pay about $348,300 for its contract with Clallam County for jail, court, prosecution and public defense, Bush said.
He and fellow city staff recommended putting any discussions on hold for a potential court unless the contract with Clallam County increases above $500,000 more a year.
Anne Pflug, a consultant from The Other Company in Ellensburg, said that, depending on what elements the city incorporates with its hypothetical municipal court, costs could range from $395,000 to $917,000 more over five years to be independent, rather than staying with the current county contract.
Sequim is contracted with Clallam County through 2022, but that contract was in flux last summer.
Consideration for a Sequim court started after Clallam County staff revealed last June that it anticipated about $400,000 in lost revenues in 2019, and millions more in coming years, because of changes enacted by House Bill 1783, which the governor signed last March.
The legislation eliminates fines, fees, penalties and assessments for indigent defendants — which make up about 95 percent of Clallam’s defendants.
Indigent is defined as a person who receives public assistance or holds an annual income after taxes of 125 percent or less of the federal poverty level. Sequim’s indigent population is about 79 percent, Pflug said.
A previous program by former judge Rick Porter allowed indigent defendants to pay fines and other court costs based on their ability to pay, and it brought in about $1 million a year until it was discontinued last year.
County commissioners then issued letters to the cities of Sequim and Port Angeles terminating their court contracts as a way to seek renegotiated contracts; however, after discussion between the entities, the letter was rescinded.
This led the county and cities’ staff to pursue an interlocal agreement to study the countywide criminal justice system.
Bush said in an interview that the city of Port Angeles will serve as the lead entity initiating the study and committee members from the cities and county will help in leading the consulting firm in investigating the courts systems’ cost analysis.
He anticipates the study being completed by the fall so that the three entities can use information from the study for their 2020 budgets.
Bush said the city’s independent study was good information to obtain.
“We’ve studied the option and what it would take and it’s good to know,” he said. “Now, we’re continuing conversations with the county.”
Pflug said a court in Sequim would have been the smallest court she’s ever helped establish, in terms of case load.
In 2017, the City of Sequim had 475 case filings that led to six jury trials.
Pflug also reported that one-third of all traffic infractions results in requested hearings.
For its top three non-felony court filings, there were 173 for traffic infractions, 138 for third-degree theft and 80 for driving with a suspended license.
However, Pflug said, Sequim’s filings have declined even with a population growth and that the caseload is similar to state trends.
If the city were to start its own court, Pflug said its largest cost would be establishing a facility.
In her report, she said the City Council chambers in the Sequim Civic Center are best suited for its closeness to customer services, whereas the Sequim Transit Center is comparable but not as convenient.
One of the Civic Center’s issues would be finding a private space for attorneys and defendants to meet.
Another significant cost is hiring a judge or judges and whether to have elected judges or appointed.
Pflug said the earliest the city could operate its own court would be 2022, unless Clallam County gave them notice on the contract; then, it could begin within a year.
“I wouldn’t recommend that,” she said. “I usually tell clients, you usually need 18 months. There’s just a lot of details that have to be worked through.”
City Council member Bob Lake asked if the city could have a different approach to traffic claims in the future.
Pflug said it is possible.
“It’s hard for the county to carve out a part of the case load and treat it differently,” she said.
“If you and Port Angeles came together and created a joint agreement for high volume cases like theft and come up with strategies that would be easier and more consistent countywide. (For example) someone who stole something in Port Angeles and then in Sequim would have the same consequences.”
For Pflug’s study, she received $11,300, with the city budgeting up to $30,000.
For more information about the City of Sequim, 152 W. Cedar St., visit www.sequimwa.gov.
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Matthew Nash is a reporter with the Olympic Peninsula News Group, which is composed of Sound Publishing newspapers Peninsula Daily News, Sequim Gazette and Forks Forum. Reach him at mnash@sequimgazette.com.
