Court Contracting and Election of Judges

The Senate Judiciary Committee is scheduled to hear a bill that would clarify cities’ authority to contract for court services, but also requires those judges to be elected and expands the types of cases municipal courts must hear. The proposal does not yet have a bill number, but will soon. To request a copy, refer to S-0422.

Cities continue to oppose any expansion to the requirement that judges must be elected. Information provided by the American Judicature Society (AJS) supports our contention that appointed judges are more insulated from undue influences arising when they must raise money to run for election and campaign. Instead, the AJS suggests an appointment process that includes a wide variety of interests to be represented on the selection panel that recommends candidates to the appointing authority.

This proposal also requires municipal courts to hear protective orders. AWC supported a proposal two years ago that gave judges discretion to hear these cases in municipal court. We advised the proponents at that time that we would not support any effort to force municipal courts to hear them. Unfortunately, that decision would not be left to the discretion of the judge in this proposal.

Auto Crimes (HB 1001, HB 1030)

The House Public Safety and Emergency Management Committee heard two bills this week of particular interest to cities. HB 1001, sponsored by Rep. John Lovick (D-Mill Creek), enhances penalties for auto theft, allows prior vehicle prowling offenses to be used when calculating an offender’s sentence, creates new crimes for possessing motor vehicle theft tools, and establishes a statewide Auto Theft Prevention Authority to distribute funds and coordinate auto theft efforts. The bill also imposes a 50-cent surcharge on vehicle insurance policies. Fifty-six legislators have sponsored the bill.

HB 1030, sponsored by Rep. Dean Takko (D-Longview), allows the court to impose an additional 12-month sentence upon conviction of attempting to elude a police vehicle.

Testifying in support of both bills were Mayor Dave Edler from Yakima and the families of two young men who were killed by a driver in a stolen car who was running from police. In addition to this strong local presence, law enforcement, prosecutors, and county officials all expressed their support. The insurance industry, however, testified with concerns over the funding mechanism. AWC will continue to work for passage of these two public safety measures.

Emergency Management

Next week, the Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness Committee will hear from panels of state and local emergency managers on the readiness of the system to respond to natural disasters and possible terrorist activities in Washington.

Interoperability and E-911

On Friday, January 19 at 8:00 am, the House Technology, Energy & Communications Committee will hold a work session on critical infrastructure, interoperability and E-911.

Crimes Against Property

AWC joined retailers and financial Interests to express concerns with a proposal before the Senate Judiciary Committee that would increase the dollar amount for a crime against property to be charged as a misdemeanor. Current state law defines a felony level theft as that resulting in a loss of $250 or more. This proposal would substantially raise that dollar threshold to $750.

This bill was passed by the Judiciary Committee last year but died on the Senate floor.

Offender Re-entry (SB 5070)

On January 11, the Senate Human Services & Corrections Committee heard testimony on SB 5070, a bill resulting from this interim’s task force on offender supervision and re-entry. The bill addresses a broad number of areas impacted when offenders return to the community, including work release, supervision, education and training, employment barriers, and housing.

Of particular interest to cities are provisions providing for community transition networks, which would provide for increased partnerships in services to offenders reentering the community. Each county or group of counties would be required to conduct an assessment of the services available in the county or region to assist offenders in re-entering the community and to submit it to the Department of Corrections by December 1, 2007. The bill also provides a grant program through CTED to facilitate partnerships between state and local supervision, treatment, and service providers to assist offenders to successfully transition to the community and to reduce recidivism.

AWC testified in support of a pilot concept for the community transition networks, but reiterated the importance of liability reforms if local governments will be asked to take on more of a role in supervision of offenders, as well as ongoing funding concerns for any new mandates included in implementation of the new programs.

Limiting Emergency Worker Volunteer Liability (HB 1073)

The House Judiciary Committee will hear HB 1073 on Friday, January 19 at 8:00 am. AWC supports this Military Department request legislation to clarify that local emergency worker volunteers and their sponsoring agencies are immune from liability for their work in emergencies and natural disasters.

Justice in Jeopardy Initiative & Funding for Court Interpreter Services

On Wednesday, January 10, the House Judiciary Committee held a work session on the proposal from the Justice in Jeopardy Initiative, an ongoing Board of Judicial Administration task force to address court funding issues in Washington State. The recommendations of the task force include issues such civil legal aid funding, court appointed special advocates, public defense, civil legal aid, and funding for court interpreters.

The AWC Legislative committee endorsed the court interpreter proposal as part of its process last fall. The proposal would provide incentives to use certified interpreters by providing some funding for the services and create a registry for non-certified languages. There is currently no state funding for cities and counties to help defray the costs of providing interpreter services to plaintiffs during court proceedings.

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