Franklin County commissioners approve district court reclassifications and fund shifts, OK full-time contract interpreter

The Franklin County Board of Commissioners on Oct. 24 approved four related district court personnel actions and a year-long contract for a full-time Spanish-speaking interpreter, moves the judge said are intended to sustain the county's therapeutic court and meet state requirements.

Judge Orozco, Franklin County District Court, told commissioners the reclassifications correct education and duty mismatches for two court positions, add grant-management responsibilities to the job descriptions and better position the county to recruit successors when long-serving staff depart. The board approved resolutions described in the meeting as 2025-281 (probation officer reclassification), 2025-282 (therapeutic court coordinator reclassification), 2025-283 (approval of a full-time Spanish-speaking interpreter in contract form) and 2025-284 (allocation of a portion of the district court judge and court administrator/probation manager salary to the mental-health and substance-use-disorder sales tax fund).

Why it matters: Judge Orozco said therapeutic courts can reduce incarceration and downstream costs by keeping eligible people in community-based treatment and avoiding jury trials and longer facility stays. Commissioners and staff discussed whether mental-health sales-tax revenues may be used to support court staff salaries under state law; Judge Orozco cited RCW provisions permitting certain court-related costs to be paid from the mental-health and substance-use-disorder sales tax. Administrator Brian Danzel and other commissioners said they view the funding move as lawful under the statute but sought additional details about related Benton-Franklin regional treatment-center contracts and the longer-term cost picture.

Key details: Judge Orozco said reallocating 20% of her salary and 20% of the district court administrator/probation manager's salary to the mental-health sales-tax fund would free about $5,000 in current-expense budget capacity to support the reclassified positions. She said the county's existing interpreter arrangement cost roughly $72,000 a year; the new full-time contract was described in the meeting as increasing annual interpreter-related costs (the board was told a full-time contract would approximate $135,000) while reducing on-call and per-session friction and offsetting costs elsewhere, including the Office of Public Defense (OPD).

Commissioners pressed for more contract detail with regional treatment providers, asking whether the county has a firm operator contract and what Franklin County's share of the Benton-Franklin facility costs will be. Judge Orozco and Administrator Danzel said those numbers are not yet final and that Benton County and treatment providers had not provided a final contract or per-bed cost figure.

Votes and procedure: Each of the four district court resolutions was moved, seconded and adopted by voice vote during the meeting; the board recorded unanimous "aye" votes on the motions. Commissioners also discussed longer-term grant-dependency risks and the difficulty of staffing interpreter services in rural counties, and several urged state-level action to allow certified phone- or app-based translation tools in court settings to reduce recurring costs.

What remains: Commissioners asked for further documentation of the mental-health-sales-tax transfer and for updates on the Benton-Franklin treatment-center contract and staffing plans. Judge Orozco said she would continue applying for grant funding and present follow-up information to the board.

Ending: The board adopted the four district court actions that the judge presented and approved the one-year contract for a full-time Spanish-language interpreter as described; commissioners directed staff to return with more precise contract figures and any additional clarifying legal citations for the proposed salary reimbursement.