Spokane County public defender requests new office for conflict cases

The Spokane County public defender wants to create a new department to handle cases that present a conflict of interest for his office that otherwise would be assigned to private attorneys at taxpayer expense.

Colin Charbonneau, the county’s public defender, hopes to transfer two of his lawyers to a standalone office. Those lawyers would take cases the public defender’s office outsources to private law firms.

Charbonneau said the move would save Spokane County at least $250,000 a year and possibly much more. He added that it would improve legal representation for defendants, which in turn would limit the county’s exposure to lawsuits.

The two transferred attorneys would continue to work on nonconflict cases, Charbonneau said, so creating the department wouldn’t leave the public defender’s office shorthanded.

The 50-plus attorneys in the public defender’s office represent the majority of people facing possible jail sentences in Spokane County who can’t afford a lawyer.

But occasionally the public defender’s office can’t represent someone, due to a conflict of interest. For example, if a victim in a case is a former client, it wouldn’t be ethical for the office to represent the accused.

The public defender’s office sends conflict cases to counsel for defense, a smaller, separate department. Counsel for defense’s six lawyers are still public defense attorneys. They’re still Spokane County employees. But they operate independently of the public defender’s office.

Some felony cases present a conflict of interest for both the public defender’s office and counsel for defense. Charbonneau said a common example would be when three individuals are charged with the same crime. If the prosecutor’s office charges three indigent men for one homicide, each of the three needs a separate attorney.

The public defender can represent one. Counsel for defense can represent another.

Today, the third gets assigned to a private attorney, but that would change if the Spokane County commissioners grant Charbonneau’s request.

Charbonneau said a second conflict of interest office would come with a host of benefits.

It would save money, for one. Over the past eight years, Spokane County has paid private attorneys more than $3 million to handle conflict cases.

Sometimes a single case assigned to a private lawyer can cost $150,000, many times the amount it would cost to handle with county staff. In 2021, Spokane County sent 83 felony cases to private attorneys for $250,000.

In 2019 the public defender’s office assigned more than 280 cases to private attorneys for more than $530,000. The number of cases has fallen in the past three years due to the COVID-19 pandemic and a 2021 Washington Supreme Court ruling that makes it harder for prosecutors to charge people for drug possession.

Charbonneau said it’s difficult to find qualified attorneys willing to represent indigent defendants.

“If you’re a private attorney and you’re very successful and you’ve got that kind of experience, you don’t need the $1,400 we’re paying you to take that felony case,” he told the Spokane County commissioners this month. “In fact, it’s more work than what it’s worth.”

Not only are private attorneys expensive and difficult to find, they don’t always do a great job on indigent defense cases, Charbonneau said. He noted that multiple prosecutors have told him they’re concerned with the performance of some private attorneys.

Charbonneau said the second conflict office would limit the county’s exposure to lawsuits. If defendants get better representation, they’ll be less likely to sue Spokane County, he said.

Spokane County commissioners Mary Kuney, Al French and Josh Kerns said they all like Charbonneau’s idea in theory, but stopped short of endorsing it outright. They said they want more information on how the new office would work before approving it.

“If we can maximize the employees that we currently have here and be able to bring down the money we’re having to pay to outside counsel I think it’s definitely worth exploring,” Kerns said.