The Washington State Supreme Court won’t stop Washington counties from suing the state for more public defense funding, the court has decided, ratcheting up pressure on the Legislature as its new session began Monday.
On Friday, the Supreme Court declined to review a 2025 appeals court ruling that found counties had sufficient legal standing to sue.
Friday's decision means the appeals court ruling will hold and the counties' lawsuit can play out, giving them some leverage as lawmakers debate funding bills. Although the case isn't over yet, the possibility of the counties forcing money out of the state at trial could influence the Legislature's policy choices.
The Washington State Association of Counties filed the lawsuit in 2023 in conjunction with Lincoln, Pacific and Yakima counties.
“The state’s system of funding public defense is outdated, unjust and unsafe,” the association's executive director, Derek Young, said Friday. “Counties have done their part. It’s past time for the State to do theirs.”
The lawsuit started because county leaders want the state to help cover hundreds of millions of dollars in annual expenses for public defense services that are guaranteed by the U.S. and Washington constitutions.
Under Washington’s longtime approach, the Legislature has delegated its defender obligations to the counties and made them shoulder almost all the costs of providing representation to people who can’t afford attorneys.
County leaders claim the system is broken, arguing they can’t raise enough money at the local level to provide all of their indigent defendants with adequate counsel. Most other U.S. states cover the majority of local public defense expenses; Washington does not. While the Legislature boosted spending on public defenders last year, the counties want much more.
The debate matters because funding struggles, heavy caseloads and other problems have led to attorney shortages across Washington, sometimes depriving defendants of representation and hampering prosecutions. The counties say the current approach results in “justice by geography,” where people in smaller, poorer communities get worse representation.
The Supreme Court ordered lower caseloads for defenders last June to reduce burnout and attract more recruits over time. Yet some counties worry the change will exacerbate their budget and staffing woes in the short term.
The Washington State Association of Counties lawsuit suffered an initial setback in 2024, when a Thurston County Superior Court judge dismissed it, saying the counties lacked standing to challenge the state over constitutional rights owed to individual defendants. An appeals court panel disagreed last July, finding counties have a legitimate interest in how public defenders are funded, like school districts have an interest in how the state funds teachers.
Washington Attorney General Nick Brown’s office asked the Supreme Court to overrule the appeals court panel. Although the court declined, Brown’s office will fight the lawsuit on the merits, spokesperson Mike Faulk said.
“For many decades, our state has assigned the responsibility for providing public defense to counties,” Faulk said. “Unfortunately, some counties do not want to meet that obligation and brought this lawsuit to force taxpayers in other counties to make up for their refusal. We believe this longstanding approach is constitutional, and we will continue to defend state law.”
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