Yakima County approves OPD fellowship agreement, appoints acting coroner and reviews multiple HR reclassifications

The Yakima County Board of Commissioners adopted an agreement with the Washington State Office of Public Defense (OPD) to accept fellowship funding for a summer public defense intern and approved the appointment of Marshall Sleight as interim coroner, the board said at its April 28, 2025 work session.

The OPD agreement (listed as agreement 1342025 in the meeting) will let the county accept state funds to pay one fellow the office has recruited, Paul Kelly, director of the county’s Office of Assigned Counsel, told commissioners. "This fellowship in the ... that's before you is one intern out of four that this office will have this summer," Kelly said, explaining OPD pays for so-called "rule nine" law students (rising 2Ls) under the statute that created the program.

That agreement was moved and seconded at the meeting and adopted by voice vote as "resolution 134-2025," according to the clerk’s record…