Program Overview
The 2023 Washington State Legislature appropriated funding to us to help counties and cities provide public defense services for individuals charged under the offenses created in Second Engrossed Second Substitute Senate Bill (2E2SSB) 5536. Our Simple Possession Advocacy and Representation (SPAR) Program administers and disburses these funds.
The legislature limited these funds to counties with a population of 500,000 or less, or to cities with a population of 200,000 or less. Official population is the annual Population Estimate for cities/counties published each April by OFM.
The Fiscal Year 2025 (July 1, 2024 to June 30, 2025) grant funding application period is closed.
In addition to funding, SPAR also supports public defenders with training and practice resources. And in FY25, SPAR will be rolling out a program to provide social worker support to misdemeanor public defenders working on drug possession and public use cases. Stay tuned!
Frequently Asked Questions About the SPAR Program (FAQs)
- What does this funding support?
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This funding helps cover public defense costs incurred in courts of limited jurisdiction on cases involving drug possession or public use.
Second Engrossed Second Substitute Senate Bill (2E2SSB) 5536 (Chapter 1, Laws of 2023, 1st Special Session) appropriated funds to the Washington State Office of Public Defense (State OPD) to provide reimbursement of eligible expenses for consultation and representation services for indigent adults facing pending charges or charged with violations of RCW 69.50.4011(1)(b) or (c), 69.50.4013, 69.50.4014, or 69.41.030(1), or charged with offenses under local ordinances involving allegations of possession or public use of a controlled substance, counterfeit substance, or legend drug (hereinafter, qualifying offenses) in courts of limited jurisdiction in counties with a population of 500,000 or less and cities with a population of 200,000 or less.
State OPD received a biennial appropriation (FY24 and FY25) to create, administer, and fund this reimbursement program. In order to administer these funds, State OPD created the Simple Possession Advocacy and Representation (SPAR) Program.
- How do I know if my jurisdiction is below the population threshold?
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To determine whether a county has a population of 500,000 or less, and to determine whether a city has a population of 200,000 or less, State OPD consults the April 1 official population estimates from the State Office of Financial Management.
- How are funding awards disbursed?
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This funding is reimbursement-based. If you receive an award from State OPD, you will enter into a funding agreement with us. The grant period will run from July 1 to June 30 of the following year (the state fiscal year). The funding agreement will include a maximum allocated reimbursement amount. During the grant period, OPD will reimburse jurisdictions up to the maximum allocated reimbursement amount upon receipt of properly completed invoices and supporting documentation. OPD provides template invoices and forms to assist jurisdictions in completing reimbursement requests.
- What kinds of costs are covered by the reimbursement grants?
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Funding must be used to provide individuals with consultation and representation on qualifying cases in courts of limited jurisdiction. Permissible use of funding is limited to reimbursement for compensation for attorney and support staff time devoted to such consultation and representation (including some RALJ appeals), reimbursement for investigation costs on qualifying cases, and reimbursement for expert services related to qualifying offenses. Jurisdictions may also seek approval from OPD for other expenses that are necessary to attorney representation. Jurisdictions will be responsible for any other expense.
- What’s a qualifying case?
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A qualifying offense is an offense under RCW 69.50.4011(1)(b) or (c), 69.50.4013, 69.50.4014, 69.41.030(2), (b), or (c); or a charge of an offense under a local ordinance involving allegations of possession or public use of a controlled substance, counterfeit substance, or legend drug.
- What’s a qualifying offense?
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A qualifying offense is a misdemeanor offense under RCW 69.50.4011(1)(b) or (c), 69.50.4013, 69.50.4014, 69.41.030(2), (b), or (c); or a charge of a misdemeanor offense under a local ordinance involving allegations of possession or public use of a controlled substance, counterfeit substance, or legend drug.
- How does OPD determine the reimbursement rates for jurisdictions that receive an award?
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Reimbursement rates are based on a jurisdiction’s actual costs expended in defending qualifying cases. This is true whether you employ salaried public defenders or rely on indigent defense contractors. In the indigent defense contractor scenario, to determine reimbursement rates for attorney compensation, a jurisdiction generally reports the number of qualifying cases by case number handled by a contractor in an invoicing period and either 1) multiplies the number of qualifying cases by the contractor’s case rate; or 2) determines the percent of qualifying cases in an invoicing period and multiplies that by a contractor’s monthly compensation. Variations exist and State OPD will work with selected applicants to the best of its ability to reimburse jurisdiction’s actual costs on qualifying cases.
- How should a jurisdiction determine the amount of funding to ask for?
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Most jurisdictions estimate attorney compensation by estimating the number of qualifying offenses a jurisdiction expects to have filed in a year, multiplied by the average cost of counsel per case. To that number, jurisdictions may add estimated investigation and expert services costs related to those qualifying cases for the year.
- Can my jurisdiction use this funding to pay for representation on felony cases?
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No. The legislature limited this funding to representation in courts of limited jurisdiction.
- Is this funding the same as the Public Defense Improvement Program (RCW 10.101) grant funding that my jurisdiction receives from State OPD?
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No. A jurisdiction may receive funding under both of these State OPD programs. But, funds awarded under the Public Defense Improvement Program (PDIP) have a different purpose and structure than SPAR funding, and jurisdictions who are awarded funding from both programs should be sure not to confuse these funds. For more information on PDIP, visit its webpage.
For other questions, please contact program staff:
- Grace O'Connor, Supervising Attorney, SPAR Program, 360-586-3164, x.151
- Nicole Dodge, Program Analyst, SPAR Program, 360-586-3164, x. 114
- Travis Stearns, Supervising Attorney, OPD Training Unit, 360-586-3164, x. 184
- You can also email us at spar@opd.wa.gov
Resources
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