Thursday, October 1, 2026
The Olympia City Council is evaluating options for reestablishing a therapeutic court model after shifting Municipal Court operations to Thurston County District Court.
The Olympia City Council held a study session on Tuesday, May 12, with officials from Thurston County District Court, which assumed the city’s judicial responsibilities in February.
County court officials provided an update on the transition of Municipal Court operations and related programs.
One focus of discussion was whether to adapt existing Thurston County Mental Health Court services or develop a therapeutic or community court tailored to local needs.
Olympia Prosecutor Bryanna Pinkston said the city is in an early fact-finding stage following its transition to the county court system, with discussions focused on identifying which type of program is most feasible and effective.
According to Pinkston, the city wants to create a therapeutic court that is “structured for success and holds people accountable while providing necessary treatment and services.”
She said the city is still reviewing existing county models, such as mental health and veterans courts, to determine whether those frameworks could be adapted for Olympia.
“We know we want to have a therapeutic court,” Pinkston said. “It just can’t happen overnight.”
She said a mental health court model could be implemented sooner because similar programs already exist in Thurston County, while a community court structure would require more foundational work.
Pinkston added that a mental health court could potentially begin as early as 2027, while a full community court structure would likely take longer due to the need to build processes, staffing and scheduling capacity from the ground up.
Pinkston said any future therapeutic court would need to carefully define which cases qualify, noting lower-level offenses, such as trespass and minor theft, are most commonly considered for community court programs.
She cautioned against including domestic violence and driving under the influence cases due to concerns about victim protections and legal consequences, including the possibility of no-contact orders.
“These are things we have to take into consideration,” she said. “Who does it benefit? Who does it hurt?”
Council members expressed support for expanding access to services.
Mayor Dontae Payne underscored the importance of community engagement in shaping any future model. He asked how the city would ensure that residents, stakeholders and people with lived experience are included in the process.
Pinkston said Diane Whaley, a public defense coordinator, keeps “a lot of information and statistics” that would help inform discussions about “who needs to be at the table to help create” a future therapeutic court model.
Whaley, who is also one of the architects of Olympia’s former community court, said local voices were a “guiding principle” of the previous program and said officials would need to create a new outreach list and engage groups across the city before developing a new model.
Pinkston identified staffing as a major challenge, saying prosecutors are managing hundreds of active cases and therapeutic courts require significant additional work beyond courtroom appearances, including participant screening, monitoring and coordination with service providers.
“It is not just the hour that you’re in court. It is also the preparation," Pinkston said.
City Manager Jay Burney said staffing needs would be part of future budget planning discussions, as the city evaluates whether to expand diversion-based court options.
The next phase is going to include review of existing county therapeutic courts, engaging stakeholders, as well as development of an Olympia-specific model.
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TheVirtualOne
Therapeutic court…only in Olympia. More resources down the drain to care for criminals with kid gloves, justify additional government jobs, and spend more taxpayer money.
Wednesday, May 13 Report this
Boatyarddog
TheVirtualOne, Your the one whining about no court ordered Drug Courts... your just ?
Wednesday, May 13 Report this
TheVirtualOne
Boatyarddog - As usual, your written words make no sense nor do they add anything thoughtful to the conversation. I have personally seen way too many of the results of these therapy programs that are just passing around criminals from one government agency to another, then releasing them back to repeat the same pattern of behavior again, harming innocent people. It’s become the modus operandi for how our local and state governments work. Example: Six time repeat DUI offender is sent to therapy each time he offends, until he maims an incident woman who ends up crippled and unable to walk, ending her work career and destroying her life.
HotTractor: How about contributing something instead of just taking cheap shots and taking up space? No? Then go change the oil in your tractor and quit wasting others time.
Thursday, May 14 Report this
Mugwump
We can all look around and see that what the local governments are doing regarding care for people suffering from untreated mental illness and substance abuse disorder isn't working. We are failing these people every day. Real compassion doesn't mean enablement, it means moving toward real improvement. If therapeutic courts are a way to get there, okay. But the clock is ticking. Every day we aren't providing real results for those who suffer is a day they won't get back, a day closer to overdose, a day closer to harming themselves or someone around them. People need to see change.
Thursday, May 14 Report this
BettyVerdammt
I just whipped up a satirical logo/seal for "City of Olympia Therapeutic Court - Noli me iudicare!." The graphic is pretty good. Printing it as a Bonfire tee shirt campaign, so look for it there.
Thursday, May 14 Report this
TheVirtualOne
Mugwump: Regarding your comment that “We are failing these people every day”, I would add that many are failing themselves and spitting in our faces after we’ve given them many opportunities to help themselves. I am not opposed to helping people who have made mistakes or are struggling, but we’re not holding many people accountable after they have gone through the equivalent of “therapeutic court” and treatment. The example I mentioned above is a real case where a man who was an alcoholic was caught six times and went to court for DUI’s. Each time he was given various community treatment and then released, only to reoffend. He finally rammed his vehicle head on, while drunk, into an innocent woman, maiming her for life and sentencing her and her family to taking care of an invalid for the rest of her days on this earth. That is not acceptable.
Thursday, May 14 Report this
Mugwump
TVO: Mental illness and Substance Use Disorder are diseases, not moral failings. No one expects a cancer patient to will themselves into remission — we don't get to hold that standard for people with these conditions either. These are sick people, not bad people.
Friday, May 15 Report this
Boatyarddog
TheVirtualOne, virtureless as written, childish name calling. Grow up then post.
Friday, May 15 Report this
OlyBlues
But wait! The panacea of Thurston County courts turning out not to be the end all be all?! No way! One of the big selling points the city stated when dumping their revered Municipal Court and Therapeutic Court was the county had all these amazing therapeutic courts and would take care of things. Now they want to once again do things, "the Olympia way." Well, that way has been a total failure, just like their homeless response, the Jungle, the inability to maintain a court system, their own jail, and last but not least garbage service. Meanwhile they fully fund their climate and arts programs. The city of Olympia is in a downward spiral and circling the drain quickly. City leaders are over a million dollars in debt yet gave their communications staff huge unsustainable raises two years ago. They are blowing the county public safety tax on the most pressing issue, buying electric police cars, yet tell us they need a new public safety tax just for the city. Just wait until the contract for county court services is up for renewal. Just ask Tumwater how they were lured into the same trap and then received the new contract at an exponentially higher rate. What service will be next on the chopping block at the city? We are witnessing a total failure of city government in real time.
Friday, May 15 Report this
Boatyarddog
OlyBlues. and THAT'S your take? Time to lay with the rest of us.
We're going to DO something, NOT wait around for naysayers to Wake the ---- Up. This isn't for **** talkers to decide, its for those that want people to be treated respectfully to demand we help.
Friday, May 15 Report this
TheVirtualOne
Mugwump: Please explain how the therapeutic court system should handle the six time DUI offend er I discussed above? Under your “he’s got a disease” senario, how do we hold such people accountable? Keep sending them to rehab?
Friday, May 15 Report this
TheVirtualOne
Mugwump: I understand the situation perfectly, but I see you’re taking the easy way out by not responding with anything tangible. A cop-out. You’re like most people, even when given an opportunity and a forum, they choose the easy way out. Good luck with your “spiritual s__t.” It won’t protect you or anyone else on the streets from a drunk driver who’s been in and out of therapeutic court. Be safe and god bless you my friend.
Saturday, May 16 Report this
TheVirtualOne
For drunk driving, Arizona is the toughest. I say we start there:
https://madd.org/madd-rates-all-50-states-on-drunk-driving-laws/
Lots of other opportunities for improvement with other “therapeutic court” crimes.
Saturday, May 16 Report this