Indigent defense costs soar as counties struggle
Published 7:39 pm Sunday, March 8, 2026
Indigent defense costs continue to hamper counties across Washington state, and Pacific County’s burden sees no end. Annually the county only receives pennies to the dollar of what is needed to adequately fund indigent defense.
The state funding allotment is handed down to counties through the Washington State Office of Public Defense (WSOPD). The funding only covers a small percentage of a county’s overall indigent defense expenditures, which includes attorney fees and the hiring of investigators and experts.
Between 2023-25, the county spent about $1.54 million on indigent defense and received a mere $82,000 from the state, meaning $1.46 million was footed by the county and its taxpayers through its general fund.
Pacific County approved the 2026 indigent defense funding from the WSOPD on Jan. 27, which only totals $50,270, just 7.8% of the county’s anticipated indigent defense expenditures for the year.
Funding still far short
The funding has been a pet-peeve for Pacific County General Administration Chief Administrative Officer Paul Plakinger, who is the county’s main number cruncher.
“While this is a significant increase compared to previous years, it should be noted that contracted expenditures for indigent defense are expected to grow to $643,260 in FY2026; that’s $53,605 per month,” Plakinger said. “As you can see, even with the anticipated increase in revenue, the state’s contribution doesn’t even pay for a full month of indigent public defense services in Pacific County.”
“The remainder of these costs must be paid by the general fund, which is the primary operating fund of the County, he added. “Core services within the general fund are dominated by public safety, including general law enforcement, the prosecuting attorney’s office, the court system, and the jail. Essentially, the State’s failure to adequately contribute to indigent defense compromises the County’s ability to fund core services within the general fund.”
Pacific, Lincoln and Yakima Counties along with the Washington State Association of Cities (WSAC) filed a lawsuit in 2023 against the state over the overwhelming burden — which is meant to be ‘shared’ per a federal ruling.
However, the share has continued to be lopsided with the state picking up less than 10% of the bill.
State drops the ball
According to court documents, the lawsuit alleges the state has systematically dropped the ball on helping to provide adequate funding for indigent defense and has prevented counties from pursuing other means to lessen the financial burden.
The lawsuit was challenged by the state in Thurston County Superior Court, where the court ruled that the counties and WSAC “lacked standing” because they were unable to “assert constitutional claims for rights guaranteed to individuals.”
WSAC and the counties appealed the ruling to the Washington Supreme Court, which issued an opinion on July 22, 2025.
“The State moved under CR 12(b)(6) to dismiss the Counties complaint on the basis of standing,” the court stated. “The State argued that the complaint was premised on rights held by individual defendants, not the Counties, and that even if the counties had standing, the superior court could not issue a permanent injunction without violating separation of powers principles.”
“Without reaching the issue of permanent injunction, the superior court agreed with the State that the Counties lacked standing, and it dismissed the Counties’ complaint with prejudice.”
“Our task is not to adjudicate the merits of the Counties’ complaint nor to offer opinions about the desirability of the current system of funding indigent criminal defense in our State. Our sole task is to determine whether the Counties have standing to bring their claims. We hold that they do. Accordingly, we reverse the superior court and remand for further proceedings,” the court added.
The case continues to move through the legal process.
“We offer no opinion about the wisdom of the current scheme for funding indigent defense in this state,” the state Supreme Court said. “Nor do we predict the ultimate outcome of the Counties’ lawsuit. But based on the standards applied to CR 12(b)(6) motions, the Counties’ have alleged sufficient facts to demonstrate both that they are within the zone of interest and that they have shown injury in fact sufficient to have standing to bring this case.”
As the burdens widen, counties continue to struggle with ensuring defendants have adequate defenses that are guaranteed under the Sixth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.
On top of the burden is a 2025 ruling by the state Supreme Court, which mandated lower misdemeanor and felony case loads for indigent defense counsel in order to ensure defendants receive adequate representation from their counsel.
The mandate aims at achieving the ‘new’ lower case loads over a 10-year “phased approach.”
As previously reported in the Observer, the current felony case load standard for indigent defense is capped at 150 and the new standard being implemented will be capped at 47.
The new standard for misdemeanor unweighted and weighted caseloads will be capped at 120 cases annually, which means misdemeanor unweighted caseloads must decrease by 28 cases per year and misdemeanor weighted cases must decrease by 18 per year.
