ACLU of Washington sues Yakima County for failing to appoint attorneys to indigent people charged with crimes in Yakima County Superior Court

For Immediate Release
October 1, 2024
Media Contact: [email protected]

ACLU of Washington sues Yakima County for failing to appoint attorneys to indigent people charged with crimes in Yakima County Superior Court
County’s inability to appoint attorneys in violation of people’s constitutional rights

Ellensburg, Washington — The ACLU of Washington has filed a class-action lawsuit against Yakima County, the Yakima County Department of Corrections, Yakima County Superior Court, and several county officials on behalf of a class of people charged with crimes in Yakima County Superior Court who have not had an attorney assigned to their case.

Yakima County has a shortage of public defenders — an issue that goes back to, at least, 2022. Since that time, Yakima has failed to take meaningful action to address the shortage and now they are unable to give constitutionally guaranteed counsel to people charged with crimes in Yakima County Superior Court.  Even so, poor people are being prosecuted, held in custody, given onerous conditions of release, and made to attend repeated court hearings that do not move their case forward – all without an attorney.

Some people are waiting more than a month in the Yakima County Jail without having an attorney assigned to their case. During this time, the indigent defendants cannot ask the court to release them on their personal recognizance or set a bail amount, speak to anyone about the allegations against them, or move their case forward. People who are out of custody wait several months for an attorney, facing onerous conditions of release, repeated courts dates, and no way to move their case forward.  

The lack of counsel violates the defendants’ rights under the Washington State Constitution and Washington Superior Court Criminal Rules and constitutes an unlawful restraint. The issue is also interfering with peoples’ rights to due process and a speedy trial, as many will reach their speedy trial expiration without an attorney assigned to their case.

The “[l]ack of counsel not only interferes with indigent criminal defendants’ progression to critical stages by delaying those stages but also prevents any meaningful advocacy,” the lawsuit states.

“This is about fairness — everyone deserves and has a right to an attorney, and that’s not happening now for defendants in Yakima County,” said David Montes, staff attorney for the ACLU of Washington. “They don’t have an opportunity to ask to be released. They don’t have an opportunity for an attorney to move their case forward. We have protections in place to ensure there isn’t government abuse of power and that people are treated fairly, and right now, those protections don’t exist for a whole class of people in Yakima County.”

The ACLU-WA is calling for the court to declare prosecution, incarceration, and imposition of pretrial conditions of release on people who do not have appointed counsel within a week unlawful restraint, and to remedy that restraint appropriately.

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