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State Blake Refund Bureau outlines process, outreach in Aberdeen; estimates 350,000 statewide may be eligible
Summary
State court staff described a three-step process to vacate qualifying drug-possession convictions and return court payments. Presenters described local outreach in Aberdeen, legal partnerships, an administrative vacate unit to clear records without individual appearances and cautioned the program is funded year-to-year by the legislature.
Sharon Foggo, the Blake implementation manager at the Administrative Office of the Courts, told the Aberdeen City Council on April 9 that the Blake Refund Bureau is helping people whose simple unlawful-possession convictions were vacated after the Washington State Supreme Court’s Blake decision to recover money they paid to courts and third-party providers.
The refund process is three steps: first a case must be vacated (removed from the record); second, the person applies for a refund through the bureau’s portal or by paper application; third, staff verify any third-party reimbursements such as electronic monitoring fees, treatment costs or bail that could also be returned. “Because all these people are entitled to it, we are moving forward with the courts basically; it’s called motion of the court when the court says I am vacating this case on behalf of justice,” Simon of the Blake Administrative Vacate Unit said during the presentation.
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