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Appropriations hears push for statewide public defense funding formula in HB 1592
Summary
Witnesses including counties, cities and the Office of Public Defense urged the House Appropriations Committee to adopt HB 1592, which would shift the distribution formula for state public-defense funds and give OPD new authority to assume defense duties in some low-density counties; fiscal impacts remain indeterminate pending new notes.
The House Appropriations Committee heard broad support Tuesday for substitute House Bill 1592, legislation that would change how Washington distributes state aid for trial-level indigent defense.
Committee staff and witnesses described a system now funded largely from local general funds despite being a state-mandated constitutional right. Yolanda Baker, staff to the Civil Rights and Judiciary Committee, explained the substitute would require the Office of Public Defense (OPD) to distribute county and city monies on a pro rata basis tied to cases where a public defender was assigned, replace some base allocations, and allow OPD to assume responsibility for public defense in sparsely populated counties that…
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