Spokane County seeks new tack on some traffic offenses

Changing the way certain traffic offenses are handled in Spokane County could avoid clogging the already-crowded jail with nonviolent offenders, improve collection of fines and help put lives back on track, the county’s top prosecutor said.

In a proposal to county commissioners this week, Prosecutor Larry Haskell said he wants to hire two additional deputy prosecutors to implement a program styled after the city of Spokane that would give his office more time to evaluate whether motorists driving on suspended licenses would be eligible for diversion programs instead of automatic jail time.

The misdemeanor offense, punishable by a stint of up to 90 days in jail and a fine of $1,000, makes up about 35 percent of the caseload for a half dozen district court prosecutors whose time and effort would be better spent on cases with more serious charges, said Spokane Deputy Prosecutor Rachel Sterrett.

“This is a unique opportunity not only to cut costs, but to eventually increase revenue,” she said.

Sterrett said she runs an office that has to react to law enforcement’s charging decisions on driving with suspended license cases. Charges are filed immediately when a law enforcement officer issues a citation outside Spokane city limits. The diversion program, modeled after one instituted by the city of Spokane in 2010, would hold off on charging decisions until after a prosecutor can review the case and see if the offender qualifies for a relicensing program established by the city and county in 2002.

The change would cut down on legal costs associated with having prosecutors and public defenders appearing at multiple hearings to “baby-sit” the cases, Sterrett said. Also, by funneling offenders who might otherwise not have entered the relicensing program, the county stands to collect “millions of dollars” in outstanding fines from poor drivers who are set up on installment plans to get back their driver’s licenses, Sterrett said.

But the county prosecutor’s office would need two more staff members, costing between $150,000 and $200,000 annually, to screen the cases. Sterrett said her office handled 3,437 cases last year alleging third-degree driving with license suspended, roughly double the number handled by the city prosecutor’s office, which has 13 attorneys handling traffic cases.

County commissioners said they agreed with the idea of a diversion plan, particularly if it keeps misdemeanor offenders from spending nights in the overcrowded Spokane County Jail. But jail Cmdr. John McGrath said jail policies and the current level of overcrowding would lead to an offender facing the charge to be booked and immediately released.

Commissioner Shelly O’Quinn said adding more staff may be premature, given other discussions the county is having about criminal justice reform.

“There’s more conversations that need to be had before I can approve two new staff,” she said.

Commissioner Al French asked if prosecutors had calculated how much additional revenue the county could expect by diverting more cases to the relicensing program. Sterrett said between the county’s and city’s roughly 2,100 cases that went to the relicensing program in 2014, about $550,000 in revenue and program fees were recorded. Relicensing staff estimate they could double that caseload without new hires, potentially doubling revenue to more than $1 million, Sterrett said. That money is shared evenly between the city and county.

The county and city paid $231,000 in salary costs to fund the relicensing program last year, with the city of Spokane covering 55 percent of the costs and Spokane County the rest, according to public records.

Not only would the program cut down on monetary costs to taxpayers, but also societal costs, Sterrett said. The Spokane County Law and Justice Council, Smart Justice and the Center for Justice have all called for the county to adopt the city’s diversion plan for driving with suspended license cases because it creates costs in the court system that are not likely to be recouped from offenders who are poor. The Center for Justice coordinates with the city prosecutor’s office to provide a relicensing program of its own.

There have even been calls to repeal the state law that allows offenders to be criminally charged for illegally driving when they could not pay the fines to get their license back. The Washington state Supreme Court took up the case last year, ruling that state law would need to change to avoid jailing drivers who couldn’t pay their legal fees. Sterrett said the diversion program has the potential to end the cycle of debt that sends offenders to jail.

“This would be about getting people back on a reasonable timeline to pay off their debt,” she said. “It would get them insured, and get them legally licensed to drive.”

County commissioners said they would consider the proposal but took no immediate action on Haskell’s request.