Today the state Supreme Court dismissed a request from the Spokane County prosecutor that the Court issue a writ of mandamus directing the Secretary of the Department of Social and Health Services (DSHS) to “timely provide competency services in criminal proceedings.”

According to the Court, the DSHS secretary is not a “state officer” under the constitution and so the Court does not have original jurisdiction. The opinion notes, “While DSHS’s failure to comply with its statutory obligations under chapter 10.76 RCW is of great concern, an original action in this court is not the proper avenue to obtain the relief sought by the Prosecutor.” (Justice Montoya-Lewis went farther in a concurring opinion, writing, “I had hoped that a writ such as this one or some similar procedure would bring this crisis to this court in a way that would allow us to be part of the solution to this enduring problem.”)

Indeed, the state is already working to address these issues under a federal injunction. In 2015, a federal court issued a permanent injunction against DSHS in the Trueblood case, in which DSHS was found to be unconstitutionally delaying competency evaluation and restoration services in criminal cases. The federal court required DSHS to provide inpatient evaluations within seven days and jail evaluations within 14 days. In 2016 and 2017, the federal court found DSHS to be in contempt. According to monthly progress reports for the court, the state has accrued a total of $459.3 million in evaluation and restoration fines (data through Feb. 2024; see the chart below).

In 2018, DSHS entered into a contempt settlement agreement, which meant that contempt fines were suspended as of Dec. 1, 2018. Prior to the Dec. 2018 settlement, the state had paid $80.4 million in fines.

In July 2023, the federal court found the state in contempt again and required DSHS to pay a $100.3 million fine related to fines assessed but uncollected from Sept. 1, 2022 through May 30, 2023. The 2024 supplemental budget appropriates $100.3 million for this purpose, plus $14.1 million in Trueblood lawsuit fines. The total amount paid in fines to date is $222.9 million.

Meanwhile, an Oct. 2023 presentation to the Senate Ways & Means Committee notes that the state had so far spent $115.4 million on Trueblood-related spending enhancements, including diversion and bed capacity. On top of that, the 2024 supplemental appropriates $184.4 million in operating and capital funding for the Olympic Heritage Behavioral Health facility and $8.0 million for Trueblood diversion programs.