By Rowanne Fairchild
I would like to address Olympia City Council's decision to dissolve the Olympia Municipal Court and its Community Court.
On April 8, the council voted to sell the land where its Municipal Court resides. During the vote, council members stated funds from the sale would be used to relocate staff and services from that property.
On April 9, city managers informed court staff that they expect council to vote in agreement to send Municipal Court to District Court, and that funds from the land sale would not be used to relocate staff after all.
This court absorption is expected to take place in January 2026, regardless of the 18-month lease arranged with the Squaxin Island Tribe, contradicting the original 12-month transition time court staff had originally been given. This court absorption also includes the dissolution of Municipal Court services, including Community Court and Probation.
City council has stated on multiple occasions that the decisions regarding sale of the land and contracting with the county are "not made in a vacuum."
However, the council has declined to speak with elected Judge Pam Nogueira of the Municipal Court, and has also rejected offers of support and advisement from Judge (David) Larson, head of the Council of Independant Courts, who has tried warning the council of the ramifications of dissolving their Municipal Court.
Rejection of these voices, and an unwillingness to learn about the services of Municipal Court and its therapeutic Community Court, proves that the council is indeed making their decision within a vacuum.
Dissolving Municipal Court will eliminate the Olympia Community Court (OCC). The OCC is an established therapeutic court and mentor court within Washington state. The OCC program is proven to decrease crime and increase community wellness. Losing OCC increases risk and harm within the Olympia community and removes a much-used resource for other therapeutic courts across the state.
Losing the OCC is a colossal blow to the Olympia community. The OCC address misdemeanor crimes and pulls offenders from cycles of violence by addressing the root cause of the crime and holding offenders accountable to change and restoration.
When program participants graduate, they are housed, involved in full-time school or education, sober, licensed, and have addressed the relationships harmed by their crimes.
The OCC is a front-line service to the drug and houseless crisis in Olympia, and provides direct access to services for people who would otherwise remain in the revolving door of the crime cycle.
City council votes on the future of the Municipal and Community Court at the April 22nd City Council meeting at 6 p.m., at Olympia City Hall.
Rowanne Fairchild is the Community Court Coordinator in Olympia.
OlyBlues
This is a real shame but just another in a long line of poor decisions by the Olympia City Council. It was pretty clear when they sold the court building they had no intention of relocating the court. They didn't even put on a good show. I'm surprised to see some court workers actually fell for it though. Olympia's court deals with a high transient population, as the city is the epicenter of social problems for the county. Open drug use and dealing in public among the top, and the courts have responded with the community court model. City officials are kidding themselves to think contracting with the county is the perfect solution to save money. The county has an incredibly high turnover rate for Prosecutors, District Court staff, and defense attorneys mostly because of the abysmal wages, poor working conditions, and high caseloads they cannot keep up with. The county cannot even maintain their own court facility, which is dilapidated, neglected, and out of room. The county commissioners voted several years ago to defund their probation department, further showing their lack of commitment to their own courts. The county is falling apart literally. This is a terrible decision and time will prove this to be true.
Thursday, April 17 Report this
HappyOlympian
Guessing the Mayor wants to allocate this to the reparations he says he deserves for the miserable life he has lived as an American.
Friday, April 18 Report this
JimBamberger
I write as the retired Director of the Washington State Office of Civil Legal Aid, a longtime equity and justice advocate, and a proponent of evidence-based restorative justice programs. The Municipal Court's Community Court is an essential component of any effort to deconstruct the racialized law and justice system here in Olympia. It is ethical, empathetic, and efficient. It saves lives and saves money for the city. It facilitates support services otherwise unavailable to those trapped in the system often due to the intersection of poverty, race, addiction, and other life traumas. Killing the court will further racialize the law enforcement and justice system here in Olympia. This is the worst of all possible decisions. The Council should back off and take the time it needs to come up with an equity-based solution.
Sunday, April 20 Report this