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Thurston County reviews ILAs to provide district court services for Olympia and Tenino
Summary
County staff briefed commissioners on requests from the cities of Olympia and Tenino for Thurston County to administer their district court services, including supervised probation; staff said implementation will require six months of coordination, human-resources actions and a rate study to set future interlocal agreement charges.
Thurston County officials told the Board of County Commissioners they have negotiated interlocal agreements (ILAs) with the cities of Olympia and Tenino under which the county would administer district court services for those jurisdictions, including supervised probation and progressive alternatives.
County Manager (name not specified) told the board the City of Olympia "has requested Thurston County provide all court services for the city, including progressive alternatives and supervised probation," and said District Court and multiple county departments have been working to create a full cost-recovery proposal. "The implementation process is looking like a 6 month process," the County Manager said.
Why it matters: If the board approves the ILAs, Thurston County would assume operational responsibility for court services previously handled by the cities. Staff said the shift will require coordinated work from central services, information technology, human resources and district court staff, and will activate new positions that would be funded by cost recovery from the contracting cities.
How staff will set charges: County staff described a two-step approach. First, district court and the county budget team prepared a "true costs" analysis to allocate the full expense of services rather than relying on a per-filing fee. Second, county staff said a forthcoming rate study will formalize that approach and inform renewals of ILAs beginning in 2027. "Once the rate study is done, we'll bring that back to the county commissioners to talk that through so that you can understand what the changes are before we have any interactions with our partner jurisdictions," a county staff member said.
Operational issues: County staff noted several non-financial items that must be resolved before service transfer, including securing court facilities space for city court operations and coordinating human-resources processes for employees who will work on city-contracted matters.
What was said by local court staff: Frankie Peters, Court Executive Officer, thanked county staff and partners for their work and said the court appreciates the collaboration: "We really appreciate all the work that's gone in through Mr. Cummings, Mr. Miller, Mr. Hernandez and many other people who aren't here. But it's really been a great thing to be a part of."
Next steps: County staff told commissioners the Olympia item would return to the board for approval on a subsequent consent agenda; staff also noted the city of Tenino approached the county seeking similar services and that Tenino "has no intent to have a violations bureau," meaning citation and violation processing would be handled through county court.
Ending: Commissioners did not take a final vote on the ILAs during the discussion; staff said they will return with the full agreement documents, staffing requests and the rate-study results prior to final board approval.
