City attorney: Everett received federal grant for competency diversion program; RCW 10.77 not funded in Snohomish County

Everett's city attorney reported on April 23 that city staff secured federal grant funding to support a competency diversion program for criminal defendants found not competent to proceed in traditional criminal cases.

The city attorney credited lead prosecutor Flora Diaz, police legal adviser Lacey Offit and prosecutor Hill Kamen for helping secure the federal funds. The attorney said the program targets defendants who are not competent for normal criminal proceedings, who often do not qualify for civil commitment and therefore fall into a gap between criminal court and civil-treatment pathways.

"These defendants are either mentally incompetent, so they can't legally opt into something like our mental health court or the MAP program, but mostly don't qualify for civil commitment. They kinda fall between the cracks when it comes to court ordered treatment, but still commit misdemeanor crimes," the city attorney said on the record.

The city attorney also noted a separate state-level competency diversion program outlined in RCW 10.77 that is not yet available in Snohomish County because the legislature has not funded implementation here. He said the legislature has funded demonstration or implementation in King County and Seattle but not Snohomish County; city leaders said additional state funding would expand local options.

The council did not take formal action on this report during the meeting; the remarks appeared in the city attorney's report portion of the agenda and were informational. No new local ordinance or program implementation date was set during the session.