Prosecuting Attorneys. Each of Washington's 39 counties has an elected prosecuting attorney who is authorized by law to appear for and represent their respective county or the state in actions and proceedings before the courts and judicial officers. The duties of the prosecuting attorney include:
The Criminal Process. Prosecuting attorneys represent the state in both adult criminal cases and juvenile criminal adjudications and may file misdemeanor, gross misdemeanor, or felony criminal charges. While city or municipal prosecutors may file misdemeanor or gross misdemeanor charges, only the county prosecutors may file felony charges. The maximum sentence for a misdemeanor is 90 days in jail, a $1,000 fine, or both jail and a fine, the maximum sentence for a gross misdemeanor is 364 days in jail, a $5,000 fine, or both jail and a fine, and a felony is any crime that carries with it a potential sentence of over 364 days imprisonment.
While the prosecutor's office pursues criminal cases in court, the various law enforcement agencies throughout the state are the primary criminal investigators. A case is referred to the prosecuting attorney's office when law enforcement formally submits the allegation and underlying evidence to the prosecutor's office who will then review the information and determine if there is sufficient legally admissible evidence to support the charge and whether the case meets the office's filing and disposition standards.
When a case does not meet the filing and disposition standards, or the office determines there is insufficient evidence to prove the charge beyond a reasonable doubt, the prosecutor's office will decline to formally file charges in court. If charges are filed, the case may ultimately be disposed of through a trial, plea agreement, or dismissal, or the case may be diverted to an alternative to prosecution such as veteran's court or drug court.
The bill as referred to committee not considered.
All prosecuting attorney's offices that receive more than 5000 adult felony and misdemeanor referrals annually must track the following data:
Prosecuting attorney's offices must post an annual report on the local jurisdiction website that includes the number and type of adult felony and misdemeanor referrals received from law enforcement and the number and type of adult felony and misdemeanor cases where charges were filed and not filed. The prosecuting attorney's office must also provide a copy of any filing standards or polices that precludes taking action on referrals from law enforcement, restricts prosecution of certain crimes, or requires diversion of adult felonies and misdemeanors.
PRO: The public should be able to evaluate the work of elected officials. This bill would require some of our larger prosecutor's offices to track certain data and make that available to the public. Smaller prosecutor's offices would not be affected by this bill. This is a step in the right direction towards increasing public safety. By collecting this data, we can determine areas where prosecutor's offices need improvement. Prosecutors should be accountable to the public. Too few people understand that cases filed by prosecutors reflect only a portion of potential cases referred by police. This bill castes a light on prosecutors the roll in keeping communities safe or in contributing to their decay. Officers often become frustrated because they see people they believe should be held accountable not being held accountable when potential charges are not filed.
OTHER: In 2011 the Legislature removed the requirement that prosecutor's offices track similar data because no one was utilizing it. Enacting this bill would come with a large expense. There is not money in county prosecutor's offices to stand up the required system to track this data. This bill would require upfront funding, and a steady stream of funding. Prosecutor's offices are already understaffed by 10 to 30 percent, and this bill would likely require these offices assign a full-time attorney to track this data.