Thurston County prosecutors report rise in Tumwater referrals, warn victim-advocacy funding has fallen 50%

Thurston County Prosecuting Attorney John Tunheim told the Tumwater Public Health and Safety Committee on Feb. 11 that the county has seen an uptick in referrals and charged cases from Tumwater in 2024, with the largest increases in non‑domestic violence referrals and higher numbers of charged domestic‑violence cases.

Tunheim said the office is now fully staffed in district court for lawyers after a multiyear hiring push, partly by recruiting third‑year law students into supervised “rule 9” positions and then offering them jobs contingent on bar passage. But he warned the committee the office has reduced victim‑advocacy capacity: “Our funding dropped about half, by about 50% for our victim advocacy program,” he said, attributing the loss to a 2023 legislative change that made the victim penalty assessment optional and to insufficient state replacement funding.

The funding shortfall prompted the office to leave two victim‑advocate positions unfilled pending the outcome of the current legislative session, Tunheim said. He thanked Representative Lauren Davis for supporting…