Case: Best v. Grant County

On December 21, 2004, three indigent criminal defendants with felony cases pending in the Grant County, Washington Superior Court, along with an individual taxpaying resident of Grant County, filed a class action lawsuit pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983 in the Superior Court of Kittitas County, challenging the constitutionality of the public defense system in Grant County. Plaintiffs claimed that Grant County: (1) failed to establish a public defense system that provided effective assistance of counsel to all indigent persons charged with felonies, (2) failed to assure that all public defenders met professional qualifications, (3) failed to monitor or oversee the public defense system, (4) failed to provide adequate funds to pay necessary costs of defense, (5) failed to provide representation at all critical stages of prosecution, and (6) undermined the independence of public defenders. The plaintiffs asserted violations of the Sixth and Fourteenth Amendments to the U.S. Constitution, and Sections 3, 12, and 22 of Article I of the Washington State Constitution. Plaintiffs were represented by attorneys with the ACLU of Washington, Columbia Legal Services and private firms. They sought injunctive and declaratory relief.

On August 26, 2004, the Superior Court of Washington for Kittitas County (Judge Michael Cooper) granted the plaintiffs' motion to certify the case as a class action and certified a class consisting of "all indigent persons who have or will have criminal felony cases pending in Grant County Superior Court, who are appointed an attorney, and who have not entered into a plea agreement or been convicted." In October of 2005, Judge Cooper issued a pre-trial ruling in which he found that the County's public defender system overworked its lawyers, failed to provide effective supervision, and allowed the Prosecutor's Office to interfere with funding for expert witnesses and investigators. Shortly thereafter, the parties resolved the case by settlement.

In November of 2005, the parties entered into a six-year court-enforceable Settlement Agreement which called for Grant County to reduce excessive public defender caseloads, guarantee that public defense lawyers were qualified to handle serious felony cases, provide adequate funding for investigators and expert witnesses, and comply with public defender standards endorsed by the Washington State Bar Association and authorized by the Washington Legislature. The settlement also provided that a court-appointed monitor would oversee and direct compliance with the settlement agreement during the six-year term. Settlement Agreement.

Over the six-year term of the settlement agreement, the monitor provided quarterly reports on the state's compliance. The monitor found that the state on occasion violated the settlement agreement, but noted that most violations were resolved through mediation with the monitor. In March 2009, the ACLU filed a motion to enforce the settlement agreement over the county's decision to shift from using contract attorneys to a partly in-house defense system without first obtaining the monitor's approval as required by the settlement agreement. In response, the county agreed to pay $10,000 associated with enforcing the agreement.

The docket indicates the parties agreed to dismiss the action with prejudice in April 2013. On April 26, 2013, the court approved this dismissal and closed the case.