Mason County public-defense office warns new state caseload limits will require more attorneys and cost millions

A contracted chief public defender told Mason County commissioners on Sept. 29 that a Washington State Supreme Court order adopting RAND-based caseload standards will sharply reduce the number of felony and district-court cases an individual public defender can carry, and that complying will require hiring more attorneys and support staff.

Angela Avery, who said she is the contracted chief public defender for Mason County, summarized the new standards and the RAND study the court relied on. She said the old guideline permitted a felony public defender to handle about 150 felony cases a year but the new standard would reduce that to roughly 47 weighted felony cases per year and to about 120 district-court cases per year per attorney. "So either we take 10 years and we do it or we do it now," Avery told the commissioners when…