Drafter
Clerk 02/02/2009
title
AN ORDINANCE relating to the challenges to completion of a report related to the county contracts for indigent defense services; and amending Ordinance 16312, Sections 16 and 49, as amended.
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BE IT ORDAINED BY THE COUNCIL OF KING COUNTY:
SECTION 1. Ordinance 16312, Section 16, as amended, is hereby amended by adding thereto and inserting therein the following:
OFFICE OF MANAGEMENT AND BUDGET - From the general fund there is hereby appropriated to:
Office of management and budget $0
P1 PROVIDED THAT:
Of this appropriation, $100,000 shall not be expended or encumbered until the council receives and approves by motion the components and justification for each component that will be used to develop the indigent defense contracts between King County and the nonprofit defense corporations. These components shall be consistent with the model adopted by the council in Motion 12160. The report shall be developed by the department of community and human services in conjunction with the office of management and budget and shall include current data and input from the contract defense agencies and the King County Bar Association. The data shall include, but not be limited to information on caseload: staffing; and calendaring of cases for felony, complex felony, juvenile, misdemeanant, involuntary treatment, persistent offender and dependency cases. The report shall be submitted no later than ((February 1, 2009)) February 20, 2009, to ensure council approval of the proposed methodology prior to negotiation of the new contracts between the county and the contract defense firms. It is the intent of the council that the office of public defense shall work collaboratively with the nonprofit defense corporations and the King County Bar Association to complete the report and transmit it to the council as soon as possible.
The report must be filed in the form of 11 copies with the clerk of the council, who shall retain the original and will forward copies to each councilmember and to the lead staff of the operating budget, fiscal management and select issues committee, or its successor.
SECTION 2. Ordinance 16312, Section 49, as amended, is hereby amended by adding thereto and inserting therein the following:
OFFICE OF THE PUBLIC DEFENDER - From the general fund there is hereby appropriated to:
Office of the public defender $0
P1 PROVIDED THAT:
Of this appropriation, funding for contracts between the office of public defense and the public defense nonprofit corporations that provide indigent defense services for King County shall be expended solely on contracts that ensure that expedited gross misdemeanor cases resulting from the prosecuting attorney's filing and disposition standards (FADS) continue to be reimbursed using the existing case credit, and not calendar-basis, reimbursement methods and shall also ensure that clerical staffing levels are reimbursed at the levels generated by the 2008 model, until the council approves by motion an updated methodology for reimbursement consistent with the intent of Motion 12160. It is the intent of the council that the office of public defense shall work collaboratively with the nonprofit defense corporations and the King County Bar Association to update the reimbursement methodology as soon as possible. Further, it is the intent of the council that new contracts for indigent defense to cover the period July 1, 2009, through June 30, 2010, be negotiated by the office of public defense and public defense nonprofit corporations and submitted to the council ((by March 31, 2009, for approval)) forty-five days after the council approves a supplemental appropriation for the period July 1, 2009 through December 31, 2009, for the office of the public defender. These contracts shall be developed in accordance with the model adopted by the council in Motion 12160 and shall be developed with regularly updated information and input from the contract defense agencies regarding caseload, staffing and calendaring of cases for felony, complex felony, juvenile, misdemeanant, involuntary treatment, persistent offender and dependency cases, as well as review and input by the King County Bar Association.
P2 PROVIDED FURTHER THAT:
Of this appropriation, $1,000,000 shall not be expended or encumbered until the council receives and approves by motion the components and justification for each component that will be used to develop the indigent defense contracts between King County and the nonprofit defense corporations. These components shall be consistent with the model adopted by the council in Motion 12160. The report shall be developed by the department of community and human services, in conjunction with the office of management and budget, and shall include current data and input from the contract defense agencies and the King County Bar Association. The data shall include, but not be limited to, information on caseload, staffing and calendaring of cases for felony, complex felony, juvenile, misdemeanant, involuntary treatment, persistent offender and dependency cases. The report shall be submitted no later than ((February 1, 2009)) February 20, 2009, to ensure council approval of the proposed methodology prior to negotiation of the new contracts between the county and the contract defense firms. It is the intent of the council that the office of public defense shall work collaboratively with the nonprofit defense corporations and the King County Bar Association to complete the report and transmit it to the council as soon as possible.
The report must be filed in the form of 11 copies with the clerk of the council, who shall retain the original and will forward copies to each councilmember and to the
lead staff of the operating budget, fiscal management and select issues committee, or its successor.