PORT ANGELES — Facing large budget cuts, the Clallam County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office is looking to leave it up to the cities to prosecute many of their drug and theft cases.
The office is facing $196,932 in cuts next year, and as a result, Prosecuting Attorney Deb Kelly said her office could have to institute furlough days and lose a support staff member.
Kelly said she wants to focus her limited resources on prosecuting crimes of violence against people.
“Our focus is always going to be on the violent and sex crimes,” she said.
To properly prosecute those cases, Kelly said, she is planning to shift drug and theft crimes that occur in the cities over to those municipalities to charge next year, but how many has not been determined.
“It’s very likely that there is going to be some shift,” she said.
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, said city officials.
Additionally, some city administrators said they may not have enough funds to pursue charges on every case.
“I think that’s definitely a realistic possibility,” Forks Mayor Bryon Monohon said.
So does Sequim City Attorney Craig Ritchie.
“What you’re trying to do is juggle the cost of criminal justice,” he said, “and frankly, we want to reserve as many dollars as we can for serious crimes.”
Port Angeles City Attorney Bill Bloor said his office will try to prosecute every case, but other “internal” duties, such as handling city contracts, may have to suffer.
Unlike the county, cities can prosecute only misdemeanors, gross misdemeanors and violations of their municipal code.
That means that someone alleged to have stolen more than $750 could be charged only with third-degree theft, rather than the felony charge of second-degree theft.
The cities, which handle cases through the county’s two district courts rather than Superior Court, couldn’t charge possession of heroin, methamphetamine, cocaine or other felony drugs.
If any of those cases were shifted to the cities, they would have to find some related misdemeanor to charge.
Kelly said it’s too early to tell how many felony drug cases her office would still be able to handle.
“It’s just too uncertain,” she said.
Still, such a dramatic change in policy is not what Kelly said she had in mind when she first ran in 2002 as the tough-on-crime candidate.
She said she doesn’t think she is going back on her campaign promises.
“I’m always going to be tough on the crimes I prosecute,” Kelly said.
“I just may not be able to prosecute as many of them.”
Sequim Police Chief Bill Dickinson said he finds reason for concern.
“It’s confusing for officers,” he said. “How are they going to know whether this case is going to qualify as a felony or not?”
Any caseload shift would also place a higher burden on the county’s two district courts, which are also facing cuts.
Kelly estimates that between 100 and 200 cases may be moved from Superior Court to either of the district courts under the “worst-case scenario.”
Clallam County District Court No. 1 Administrator Keith Wills said the court could be able to absorb that number of cases since it has seen its own caseload drop in recent years.
District Court No. 1, which is posed to lose a staff member and part-time judge, serves the county east of Fairholm, which is on Lake Crescent’s western shore.
“It’s all a ‘could’ right now,” Will said on the potential change.
How would it impact the court?
“I have no idea,” he said.
Clallam County District Court No. 2 Administrator Sabrina Bees said she has more reason to be worried.
Bees said she faces losing her two full-time clerks, which would be replaced by one part-time position, and added that any caseload increase would be a “big strain.”
“I don’t know how that’s going to work yet,” she said.
District Court No. 2 covers the West End.
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Reporter Tom Callis can be reached at 360-417-3532 or at tom.callis@peninsuladailynews.com.
