Sequim Gazette staff

Misdemeanors committed within the Sequim city limits won’t be dealt with by city officials in the courts anymore, but instead will be handled at the county level starting in 2016.

The City of Sequim and Clallam County commissioners agreed to an interlocal agreement — the city in a 6-1 vote on Nov. 9 and the commissioners unanimously on Nov. 24 — covering criminal justice services for “city misdemeanants.”

That includes all adults who commit misdemeanor, gross misdemeanor offenses and traffic infractions in the City of Sequim and are booked into jail and/or are referred for prosecution by Sequim police officials beginning Jan. 1.

The “overall goal” of the agreement is to better the criminal justice services provided and up taxpayer savings, County Administrator Jim Jones wrote in an executive summary of the agreement. However, Jones also anticipates four “significant outcomes” to become achievable because of the agreement, including the reduction of governmental duplication, to provide cost containment and budget predictability, to provide prosecutorial and judicial continuity and increase operational efficiencies in District Court I and the jail.

“This is really a milestone when you can do things in a way that saves the public some money, deliver the same kind of service, do it more efficiently and require less in the way of resources,” Jim McEntire, Clallam County commissioner, said.

Next year, the deal tentatively would save the city six figures at more than $120,000.

Jones estimated the City of Sequim would spend about $440,426 to cover its criminal justice costs in 2016. Under the agreement, the city pays an annual $320,000 flat fee that includes provisions for annual increases or decreases based on the rate of the Seattle-Tacoma-Bremerton Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers (CPI-W).

The agreement is set for 10 years and has been in discussion for several years, city and county officials said, and follows long brewing talks of the City of Sequim reestablishing its own municipal court.

City Attorney Craig Ritchie said the city creating its own court remains an option as the agreement allows for it to exit at any point if there were just cause. Those hypothetical reasons, Ritchie said, may include findings that reveal that the city creating its own municipal court is cheaper and/or the city loses a series of cases.

Discussing the interlocal agreement, Ritchie said it’s logical and better odds than playing the casino but the odds fluctuate unknowingly.

“Crime rates are actually going down slightly. That may be a trend,” he said. “If that trend continues, we’ll be able to reap some benefits.”

By partnering, Ritchie said they are trying to do something new that probably will save the city money in the long term.

However, city councilors seemed interested in continuing to pursue options to form the city’s own municipal court.

Councilor Ted Miller said the option should be a near and long-term solution.

“There’s a good chance something doesn’t work out,” he said. “We need to be ready to incorporate our own municipal court at a moment’s notice or at least a few months out.”

Currently, the city has contracted with private attorney Chris Shea to prosecute its cases and with Clallam County Public Defenders’ Office for its defense services.

Ritchie said the county will hire an attorney and staff member to cover its cases and administrative duties.

A few years ago, the city invested in a study on the costs of forming its own municipal court but didn’t act on its findings.

Ritchie said the city likely needs to update its study because technology may make changes to its findings.

“My guess is that there will be no differences in the study,” he said. “The costs would be about the same as not doing it (the city’s own court). It costs what it costs.”

Shea spoke to city councilors on Nov. 9 at their meeting saying discussions for creating a city municipal court started about eight years ago but didn’t go anywhere because the city didn’t have the facility for proceedings but now it does.

He suggested continuing to look at the option for the future because the East End of Clallam County continues to grow.

Alana Linderoth and Matthew Nash contributed to this report.