SEQUIM — The city is negotiating a long-term all-in-one court and jail services contract with Clallam County that potentially could save the city about $80,000 annually, according to city staff.
At the same time, the city is considering a feasibility study to determine if it would be more cost-effective to establish its own independent municipal court.
During a study session Monday, the City Council unanimously — with Councilman Key Hays absent — agreed to authorize City Manager Charlie Bush and City Attorney Craig Ritchie to negotiate a consolidation contract with Clallam County.
The council will consider final approval Nov. 9.
The city already contracts with Clallam County to provide court and jail services but also pays a private attorney, Chris Shea, to provide prosecution services and the Clallam County Public Defender’s Office for indigent defense services.
The county is proposing to enter into an all-in-one contract with Sequim to provide prosecution and indigent defense services as well as municipal court and jail services.
“The change that would occur if we contracted everything with the county would be that the county would now become the primary provider of prosecution services and the provider of defense services,” Bush said.
“There is some savings involved, so that is a benefit to everyone.”
Sequim city savings
Although negotiations are still in progress, city staff anticipates a savings “over our current situation somewhere in the range of around $80,000 a year,” Bush said.
The city budgeted $439,861 for court services this year, with a return in revenues derived from fines and charges for goods and services of $82,279.
Under the new contract, the county would keep the revenues, but the city would still see savings overall, Bush said.
But the city may have less direct input into cases, he said.
Losing control
Deputy Chief Sheri Crane of the Sequim Police Department said during the study session, “There are always concerns about that. You are losing control.”
Crane said she is “not so much concerned with the jail and the court process, but definitely prosecutions.
“We’ve had issues sometimes with priorities, so you want to make sure that staffing is sufficient and the priorities are sufficient,” she said.
In Sequim, “we have a lot of property crimes, so is that going to be a good priority? Are we going to be on the same page there?
“I would say that 90 percent of the time, we are on the same page,” she said.
“It is this little 10 percent. Contractually, we might be able to figure out a way to address those areas where we aren’t quite seeing eye to eye.
“I do think we really want to be very careful on how we want to craft the contract.”
Prosecutions
Councilwoman Genaveve Starr also was concerned about the way prosecutions will be handled if the city agrees to a new contract.
“During the past year, we have had some discussion over the situation that the court hasn’t been prosecuting some of the crimes that have been committed within our city limits,” she said.
Ritchie said there have been times when the prosecuting attorney’s office did not prosecute certain cases as felonies.
“We end up prosecuting them frequently, when we can,” as misdemeanors, he said.
“It is an extra expense to our taxpayers, and it doesn’t give the severity of the crime much due.”
However, “we have had some assurances that those issues will be dealt with,” he said.
Municipal court
“It seems to me, and I have felt this since 2008, that” creation of a “Sequim Municipal Court is the right answer — especially for the long term — for the city,” Councilman Ted Miller said during the study session.
“Obviously, we can’t go into it right away and we may determine it isn’t feasible, but I think we should at least study it and keep that option open.”
The creation of an independent municipal court “is something that we have been thinking of, but actually a contract for several years” with the county “would not preclude you from getting a court study done and the setup arranged and notices given, if that is what you chose to do,” Ritchie said.
And even if a municipal court were established, the city would “still use the county jail . . . and it may cost more time because then we have to bring prisoners down to our court and to guard them while they are in the court,” Ritchie said.
There are holding cells available in the new city police department, “but they don’t qualify as a jail, so they are not going to work for penalty,” Ritchie said.
“They may work for pre-arraignment, but not for . . . incarcerating persons prior to a trial.”
The council tabled the decision to pursue a feasibility study about the creation of a municipal court, which would cost between $10,000 and $20,000, Bush said, until their next meeting.
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Sequim-Dungeness Valley Editor Chris McDaniel can be reached at 360-681-2390, ext. 5052, or cmcdaniel@peninsuladailynews.com.
