WA SB5404

Beginning in fiscal year 2026, the state assumes 50% of public defense costs based on the five-year average of eligible counties' actual expenditures prior to fiscal year 2024, and covers all costs exceeding that average

Counties must designate a public defense coordinator (a lawyer with public defense experience), require attorneys to track and report billable hours on each case, and report case statistics annually to the Office of Public Defense

Counties with population density under 50 persons per square mile may request the Office of Public Defense assume responsibility for providing all or part of public defense services in their jurisdiction

Any county funds freed up by state funding must be used only for specified purposes including pretrial diversion programs, alternatives to incarceration, reentry services, behavioral health facilities, and affordable housing development

The Office of Public Defense must examine ways to reduce caseloads and backlogs, track unrepresented defendants due to lawyer shortages, and report findings and recommendations to the legislature by December 1, 2026