Office of Public Defense
| Average Annual FTEs | Near General Fund State | Other Funds | Total Funds | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| (Dollars in Thousands) | ||||
| Current Budget | 44.7 | 146,683 | 16,203 | 162,886 |
| 2025-27 Maintenance Level | 65.5 | 140,883 | 9,779 | 150,662 |
| Difference from 2025-27 Original | 20.8 | (5,800) | (6,424) | (12,224) |
| % Change from 2025-27 Original | 46.5% | (4.0%) | (39.6%) | (7.5%) |
2025 Policy Other Changes |
||||
| Appellate Backlog Response | 1.0 | 5,444 | 0 | 5,444 |
| Atty Vendor Rate Adjustment | 1.0 | 8,762 | 0 | 8,762 |
| SW Vendor Rate Adjustment | 0.0 | 3,390 | 0 | 3,390 |
| Expert, Investigator, Lit. Costs | 0.0 | 4,420 | 0 | 4,420 |
| Blake Response | 5.8 | 0 | 8,615 | 8,615 |
| SPAR Program | 7.0 | 15,781 | 0 | 15,781 |
| Client Emergency Fund | 0.0 | 80 | 0 | 80 |
| Evaluation of Public Defense Svcs. | 0.0 | 420 | 0 | 420 |
| Criminal Defense Training Academy | 1.5 | 0 | 1,070 | 1,070 |
| Law School Practicum | 0.0 | 0 | 1,500 | 1,500 |
| Reflective Practice Training | 0.0 | 368 | 0 | 368 |
| Agency Professionalization | 3.0 | 1,037 | 0 | 1,037 |
| Public Defense Grants | 3.0 | 80,865 | 0 | 80,865 |
| Parents for Parents Statewide Ops. | 0.0 | 2,500 | 0 | 2,500 |
| Svc. Capacity-Incarcerated Parents | 0.0 | 220 | 0 | 220 |
| WA Defense Assoc. Resources | 0.0 | 810 | 0 | 810 |
| Redemption Project of Washington | 0.0 | 1,145 | 0 | 1,145 |
| Appellate Caseload Standard Imp. | 1.0 | 5,929 | 0 | 5,929 |
| General Budget Request Reduction | 0.0 | (1,037) | 0 | (1,037) |
| 2025 Policy Other Changes Total | 23.3 | 130,134 | 11,185 | 141,319 |
2025 Policy Comp Changes |
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| Non-Rep General Wage Increase | 0.0 | 558 | 139 | 697 |
| Non-Rep Targeted Pay Increases | 0.0 | 8 | 0 | 8 |
| Updated PEBB Rate | 0.0 | (17) | (5) | (22) |
| PERS & TRS Plan 1 Benefit Increase | 0.0 | 10 | 2 | 12 |
| Pension Benefit Amortization | 0.0 | (34) | (8) | (42) |
| 2025 Policy Comp Changes Total | 0.0 | 525 | 128 | 653 |
2025 Policy Central Services Changes |
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| Legal Services | 0.0 | 3 | 0 | 3 |
| WTS Central Services | 0.0 | 4 | 0 | 4 |
| DES Central Services | 0.0 | 3 | 0 | 3 |
| OFM Central Services | 0.0 | 90 | 0 | 90 |
| GOV Central Services | 0.0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 2025 Policy Central Services Changes Total | 0.0 | 101 | 0 | 101 |
| Total Policy Changes | 23.3 | 130,760 | 11,313 | 142,073 |
| 2025-27 Policy Level | 88.8 | 271,643 | 21,092 | 292,735 |
| Difference from 2023-25 | 44.1 | 124,960 | 4,889 | 129,849 |
| % Change from 2025-27 Original | 98.7% | 85.2% | 30.2% | 79.7% |
Policy Changes
Appellate Backlog Response
Funding is provided to address the backlog of case assignments and increased workload in indigent appeals for which there is a right to counsel. In fiscal year 2025, contract attorneys were retained to respond to these backlogs. This item continues those contracts and funds an attorney trainer to develop and implement appellate training for contractors. (General Fund - State)
Atty Vendor Rate Adjustment
A vendor rate adjustment for attorneys who provide the right to counsel for indigent clients is provided. This adjustment will help recruit and retain qualified attorneys, a critical step to achieve updated appellate and family defense standards. Contracted defense attorneys will receive compensation and resources comparable to government attorneys who prosecute cases, consistent with state and national standards. (General Fund - State)
SW Vendor Rate Adjustment
A vendor rate adjustment for contracted defense social workers and social service workers who assist OPD attorneys is funded. This adjustment provides contractors with compensation comparable to similarly situated social work employees at other state agencies, and will help recruit and retain qualified social work professionals for statewide contracts, a critical step to achieve updated public defense standards. (General Fund - State)
Expert, Investigator, Lit. Costs
Funding is provided to cover litigation costs for indigent appeals, defense experts in dependency and termination of parental rights cases, and defense experts and investigators in civil commitment cases. (General Fund - State)
Blake Response
Provides funding for statewide public defense services in response to State v. Blake. Correcting thousands of records is a laborious process, further complicated by our decentralized court system. Providing attorneys for resentencing and vacature actions ensures that eligible individuals’ right to counsel is upheld, and keeps the Blake Team working to correct unconstitutional drug convictions. (Judicial Stabilization Trust Acct - State)
SPAR Program
Funding is provided for the Simple Possession Advocacy and Representation (SPAR) program, which the Legislature created to help local jurisdictions provide public defense representation in newly authorized misdemeanor drug possession cases. The statute directs OPD to reimburse small cities and counties for public defense expenses related to drug possession cases, or to contract directly with attorneys to represent indigent people charged in possession cases. (General Fund - State)
Client Emergency Fund
Funding to respond to emergency safety issues and other urgent needs that arise for indigent clients served by the Parents Representation Program is provided. Examples include securing short-term safety for parent clients experiencing domestic violence, and covering emergency moving services, utility bills, transportation, and food assistance. Failure to timely address these needs can adversely impact a client’s dependency case. (General Fund - State)
Evaluation of Public Defense Svcs.
Funding is provided to conduct a statewide evaluation of county and city pubic defense services to inform OPD and the Legislature on the most effective methods to support, monitor, and resource local public defense services, and ensure constitutionally sufficient representation in all jurisdictions. The contracted organization will engage with “project advisors” representing public defense providers, city, county and state government, and the community who have experience with and/or are impacted by city and county public defense. (General Fund - State)
Criminal Defense Training Academy
Funding to provide advanced training to felony-level attorneys beginning in Fiscal Year 2026 is provided. Sufficient funding to train new practitioners was provided in the 2023-25 biennium. Additional funding is need to fully implement Senate Bill 5780's additional requirement to also serve experienced attorneys seeking advanced training. (Judicial Stabilization Trust Acct - State)
Law School Practicum
This item funds OPD's efforts to encourage law students to pursue the child welfare legal field by partnering with Washington law schools to develop and implement a child welfare legal practicum to prepare future attorneys for Parents Representation Program contracts and other public service attorney roles in child welfare litigation. Filling Parents Representation Program contracts quickly with well-qualified applicants has become increasingly difficult, and the state lacks a classroom-to-courtroom pipeline for new practitioners. (Judicial Stabilization Trust Acct - State)
Reflective Practice Training
Reflective Practice is an effective professional development tool to enhance capacity to work within high-stress situations. Continual training helps contracted social workers and social service workers mitigate the direct and vicarious trauma they experience in their daily work with families in child welfare cases. This funding will provide ongoing training and support for these workers. (General Fund - State)
Agency Professionalization
Funding is provided to streamline and professionalize key functions across agency operations. Implementing recent legislative directives exposed unforeseen internal service gaps. To address these gaps, OPD will hire staff to supervise contract development and administration across multiple client services programs; coordinate and respond to increasing media inquiries and other requests for information and education; and design and implement data collection and dissemination. (General Fund - State)
Public Defense Grants
Funding is provided to increase public defense improvement grants to counties and cities under Chapter 10.101 RCW and to implement a new Innovation Grant. Trial-level criminal defense is in crisis in Washington, without enough public defense attorneys to represent indigent persons facing criminal charges. In spite of steadily increasing public defense costs borne by local jurisdictions, state funding has remained stagnant for nearly 20 years. Washington is one of only 13 states that provide little or no state funding for criminal public defense. This funding will assist cities and counties in providing adequate indigent defense. (General Fund - State)
Parents for Parents Statewide Ops.
This item funds the Parents for Parents (P4P) peer mentoring program and stabilizes statewide operations. OPD contracts with nonprofit Akin to engage community host organizations and county coordinators, and serves as the P4P statewide technical administrator. Filling the P4P coordinator position in each county has become increasingly difficult as available funding significantly lags behind livable wages. The P4P program also faces challenges in locating and maintaining quality host organizations. (General Fund - State)
Svc. Capacity-Incarcerated Parents
Funding is provide to expand capacity of the Incarcerated Parents Project (IPP) that helps incarcerated parents maintain and strengthen family connections. The nonprofit Washington Defender Association hosts the IPP and will hire a paralegal to assist the IPP resource attorney who currently implements the project without support staff. (General Fund - State)
WA Defense Assoc. Resources
This item funds the Washington Defender Association’s (WDA) resource assistance and case support services to public defense attorneys throughout the state. WDA receives pass-through funding for numerous services that have not received a cost-of-business increase in more than five years. The requested funding includes a new staff position to recruit, train, and provide ongoing technical assistance to investigators for public defense cases. (General Fund - State)
Redemption Project of Washington
The Redemption Project provides training and resources for public defense attorneys statewide to develop skills and expertise in the growing practice of criminal resentencing. Funding is provided to implement reforms established by the Legislature and courts to correct excessive criminal sentences and remedy unconstitutional convictions. (General Fund - State)
Appellate Caseload Standard Imp.
The public defense caseload standard for indigent appeals was recently updated, limiting appellate attorneys to no more than 25 cases per year, compared to the prior standard of 36 cases per attorney per year. OPD seeks to implement the updated caseload standard by Fiscal Year 2027. Funding is provided to reduce caseloads for contracted attorneys who represent indigent clients on appeal to the Washington Court of Appeals and Supreme Court. (General Fund - State)
General Budget Request Reduction
Reduces the overall policy request by $1,037,000. (General Fund - State)
Non-Rep General Wage Increase
Funding is provided for wage increases for state employees who are not represented by a union or are not under a bargaining agreement that is subject to financial feasibility determination. It is sufficient for a general wage increase of 3%, effective July 1, 2025, and a general wage increase of 2%, effective July 1, 2026. This item includes both general government and higher education workers. (General Fund - State, Judicial Stabilization Trust Acct - State)
Non-Rep Targeted Pay Increases
Funding is provided for classified state employees who are not represented by a union or not covered by a bargaining agreement subject to financial feasibility determination, for pay increases in specific job classes in alignment with other employees. (General Fund - State)
Updated PEBB Rate
This item adjusts the employer funding rate for public employee insurance benefits to reflect policy-level decision packages. It increases the rate by $8 per month in the first fiscal year and decreases the rate by $34 per month in the second fiscal year, compared to the maintenance-level update, for a total rate of $1,315 in the first year and $1,355 in the second year. (General Fund - State, Judicial Stabilization Trust Acct - State)
PERS & TRS Plan 1 Benefit Increase
An adjustment is made for pension contribution rates, including to fund a benefit increase of 3%, up to a maximum of $110 per month for eligible Public Employees' and Teachers' Retirement Systems Plan 1 members. (General Fund - State, Judicial Stabilization Trust Acct - State)
Pension Benefit Amortization
An adjustment is made to the base pension rates, as set out in a proposed bill addressing the calculation of the base rate for the 2025–27 biennium, as well as amortization of Plan 1 benefit increases. (General Fund - State, Judicial Stabilization Trust Acct - State)
Legal Services
Adjustments are made for each agency's anticipated cost of legal services provided by the Attorney General's Office. Because legal services expenditures are based on consumption, funding provided in the central service model is not all inclusive. The methodology to estimate consumption is a two-year average and allows for analysis to incorporate unique agency circumstances. (General Fund - State)
WTS Central Services
Adjustments are made to reflect each agency's anticipated share of charges from Washington Technology Solutions for the Office of Cybersecurity, state network, enterprise and small agency IT services, enterprise architecture and data management, Microsoft 365 licenses, and other items. (General Fund - State)
DES Central Services
Adjustments are made to reflect each agency's anticipated share of charges from the Department of Enterprise Services for Capitol Campus costs; real estate, risk management, and small agency services; the Perry Street and Capitol Campus child care centers; enterprise applications, and other items. (General Fund - State)
OFM Central Services
Adjustments are made to reflect each agency's anticipated share of charges from the Office of Financial Management for existing statewide applications, the One Washington program, and other central services. See Chapter 11 of the 2025–27 OFM Budget Instructions for allocation methodologies. (General Fund - State)
GOV Central Services
Adjustments are made to reflect each agency's anticipated share of charges from the Office of the Governor for the Office of Equity. (General Fund - State)
