Thurston County prosecutor demonstrates public data dashboard and warns budget cuts could slow case processing

John, a presenter from the Thurston County Prosecuting Attorney's Office, demonstrated an outward-facing data dashboard on Oct. 14 that allows the public to explore felony case referrals, charging decisions, diversion types and case timelines for jurisdictions across Thurston County, including Tumwater.

The dashboard, built on the Commons platform in partnership with Measures for Justice, displays felony-only data by month and by arresting agency. It shows cases received, the office's screening decisions (prosecuted, diverted, not prosecuted) and outcomes such as sentences to state prison or county jail. The office noted the dashboard is updated quarterly and carries a data lag because the office extracts and uploads files rather than linking in real time.

The prosecutor emphasized that the dashboard reflects referrals sent to the office for review, not a countywide crime measure or reported-but-unsolved incidents. The dataset is limited to felonies at present; misdemeanor data was excluded because municipal misdemeanor records (Olympia, Lacey and others) are not integrated into the county system.

Office staff demonstrated filters that let users break out data by arresting agency (Tumwater, Olympia, Lacey, Thurston County Sheriff), offense type (violent, property, drug, felony DUI, public-order), demographic fields and outcomes. The office said it uses jail booking self‑reported race to improve race-data quality compared with officer-reported race on incident reports. The prosecutor also described a community advisory board that recommended a policy goal focused on case processing time, specifically the interval from arraignment to case closure.

Key metrics shown included a median arraignment-to-closure processing time of 169 days and a prosecution rate of about 73 percent of referrals. The office reported 27 prosecutors handling felony work and noted the public defender office handles roughly 29 felony defense attorneys, producing a heavy per‑attorney caseload.

Presenters said a current backlog exists and that a proposed $1.3 million budget reduction by the Board of County Commissioners could eliminate the equivalent of roughly eight to 10 positions in the criminal unit, meaning about 350 fewer referrals that the office could review. Office staff said they are preparing materials for the commissioners and would write to chiefs and city officials to explain potential systemwide impacts. Christy, an office representative, warned reductions would likely affect property- and treatment-court cases most, because the office would have to prioritize violent felony prosecutions with fewer staff.

Presenters invited elected officials and the public to use the dashboard and submit questions or suggestions for FAQs. They also noted ongoing work: expanding the dashboard's explanatory content, improving data quality, participating in a statewide prosecutors' workload study and preparing responses to the county budget process.

The presentation included an extended demonstration of filters and comparisons (Tumwater vs. Olympia vs. Lacey), a timeline of important events that may affect metrics (for example, jail booking restrictions lifted Aug. 2023 and changes to how race is collected), and a description of diversion programs shown in the dashboard (drug court, mental health court, veterans court, DUI court, Friendship diversion, pretrial services diversion).