More than four years since the Washington Supreme Court’s 2021 ruling in State of Washington v. Blake case, Thurston County is now processing one motion at a time.
The Thurston County Public Defense Office is seeking to renew state reimbursement for counsel assigned to vacate drug-related offenses, resentence eligible defendants, and refund court-imposed fines to now-invalidated convictions.
The Thurston County Board of County Commissioners (BOCC) reviewed two contracts on Tuesday, June 10, during its weekly agenda-setting meeting. As part of the board’s standard pre-meeting procedure, the discussion served as a first review of proposed action items ahead of the final regular meeting before the board’s summer recess.
While no vote was taken at that time, the BOCC agreed to move the contracts forward as department items for action. A final vote is scheduled for June 17.
The first proposed contract reimburses the county up to $234,832 through the Washington State Office of Public Defense. It retains one full-time public defender responsible for representing individuals eligible for relief under the State of Washington v. Blake case. It also funds professional services used in complex post-conviction work, including expert consultation, records review, and post-conviction litigation support.
Thurston County Public Defense Director Patrick O’Connor said the contract had been finalized for renewal and would extend funding for the assigned attorney through the next fiscal year. He advised the board that the attorney funded under the existing contract has been responsible for the majority of the caseload under Blake case matters.
According to O’Connor, the attorney handled nearly $1 million in legal financial obligation reimbursements last year and completed “hundreds of vacations.”
The defense office continues to litigate post-conviction claims for clients serving terms extended by the obsolete criminal history totals, many of which were based on drug possession charges that no longer count under the Blake ruling.
“We’re now in that sort of last, I would say, dozen or so of cases that are very, very serious cases, long sentences that need to be resentenced,” O’Connor said.
He said the process carries “no time limit,” and individuals may “come back at any point” to seek relief under the Blake decision.
The State of Washington v. Blake decision was issued in February 2021 by the Washington Supreme Court. It struck down RCW 69.50.4013 or the state’s strict liability drug possession statute as unconstitutional.
The ruling then voided all drug possession convictions under the mentioned law and ordered Washington’s judicial system to reprocess eligible cases, nullify prior convictions, and return legal fines to affected individuals.
The Washington State Office of Public Defense (OPD) oversees the Blake legal relief program by allocating funds to counties through direct service contracts that support defense attorneys working on case vacations, resentencing and reimbursements.
According to OPD’s 2023–25 biennium, more than 250,000 residents across Washington may be eligible for relief. Refunds for legal financial obligations are handled through the state’s Blake Refund Bureau.
As of January, the Washington State Patrol reported that 114,567 cases, representing just 18% of the 626,188 statewide convictions flagged for relief under State of Washington v. Blake, had been vacated. The figures are compiled jointly with the Administrative Office of the Courts, and stressed the scale of the backlog and delay of implementation across the state’s decentralized court system.
In Thurston County alone, O’Connor said the Clerk’s Office has identified more than 14,000 potentially eligible cases dating back to the early 1990s. He also revealed fewer than one-third of those cases have been processed.
O’Connor also noted the backlog includes numerous clients still incarcerated or on supervision due to outdated criminal history scores.
Acknowledging the time constraints, County Manager Leonard Hernandez acknowledged the rapid turnaround from the Public Defense Office and confirmed the contract had already advanced internal routing, including budget review. He indicated the contract is ready for inclusion on the board’s next action agenda.
Commissioner Emily Clouse advocated for the Blake contracts to be reassigned from consent to department items to raise awareness about available legal relief for residents eligible under State of Washington v. Blake.
“I think this is a really good item to bring community awareness to. It shows how we’re addressing systemic inequities," Clouse said.
According to Clouse, locating eligible residents for LFO reimbursements had proved difficult in past phases, in part because many people affected by outdated convictions were no longer in contact with the courts.
Clouse also said that expanding public outreach could close that gap and fulfill the state’s legal obligation to compensate individuals affected by unconstitutional enforcement.
In a separate legal category, the BOCC likewise examined a second contract with the state to retain one full-time attorney for Not Guilty by Reason of Insanity (NGRI) cases. The term mirrors the Blake agreement and carries no general fund impact.
O’Connor briefed on the statutory nature of the position.
“This contract fully funds one full-time defender in office to provide direct representations for individuals acquitted of offenses through not guilty of reasonable insanity pleas or trials.”
He explained that under Washington law, individuals found NGRI are entitled to legal representation throughout the duration of their psychiatric commitment. He said these clients will continue to be under psychiatric commitment at state-run facilities, such as Western State Hospital, Eastern State Hospital or Maple Lane.
The contract funds a public defender who handles the said cases exclusively, representing clients held at state-operated psychiatric facilities following NGRI findings.
O’Connor reiterated the mentioned commitments are not fixed by mental health evaluations alone. Instead, they are tethered on how long a person stays at a state hospital depending on the original charge. The length can range anywhere from five years to life, based on what the person was first accused of.
If adopted, both contracts will go into effect July 1. The Public Defense Office will then continue to meet its statutory obligations by retaining both a full-time attorney for Blake relief counsel and a NGRI attorney throughout the next fiscal year.
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