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Sen. Jesse Solomon warns public-defense cost changes will strain city budgets, outlines housing and childcare proposals
Summary
Sen. Jesse Solomon told Mountlake Terrace council members that new caseload standards and related public-defense mandates have driven uncertainty and steep cost projections; he urged exploring staffing alternatives and previewed proposed housing and childcare regulatory work for the coming legislative session.
State Sen. Jesse Solomon told the Mountlake Terrace City Council on Dec. 11 that recent caseload standard changes and new public-defense requirements are producing large, uncertain cost impacts for local governments and urged a wider search for staffing and policy options.
"I don't know that times 3 is the right amount," Solomon said, describing testimony that suggested tripling current public‑defender staffing levels. He questioned how the caseload numbers had been recalculated — for example, from about 150 felonies to 50 and from 400 misdemeanors to 120 — and asked whether parts of the discovery workload could be…
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