Court Opinion

ID: 9961289
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2024-04-18 15:31:53.534374+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T08:20:32.066315
License: Public Domain

FILE                                                                          THIS OPINION WAS FILED
                                                                                         FOR RECORD AT 8 A.M. ON
                                                                                               APRIL 18, 2024
       IN CLERK’S OFFICE
SUPREME COURT, STATE OF WASHINGTON
         APRIL 18, 2024
                                                                                            ERIN L. LENNON
                                                                                         SUPREME COURT CLERK

           IN THE SUPREME COURT OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON

        SPOKANE COUNTY,                            )
                                                   )      No. 101520-8
                              Petitioner,          )
                                                   )
               v.                                  )      En Banc
                                                   )
        JILMA MENESES, in her official             )
        capacity as Secretary of the               )
                                                            Filed: April 18, 2024
        Washington State Department of             )
        Social and Health Services,                )
                                                   )
                              Respondent.          )
                                                   )

               JOHNSON, J.—This case presents an original action filed by Spokane

        County Prosecuting Attorney Lawrence Haskell (Prosecutor), requesting this court

        exercise our original jurisdiction under article IV, section 4 of the Washington

        Constitution.1 The Prosecutor seeks issuance of a writ of mandamus directing

        Jilma Meneses, the secretary of the Washington State Department of Social and

        Health Services (DSHS), to comply with statutory duties under chapter 10.77

               1
               “The supreme court shall have original jurisdiction in habeas corpus, and quo warranto
        and mandamus as to all state officers . . . .” WASH. CONST. art. IV, § 4.
Spokane County v. Meneses, No. 101520-8

RCW and timely provide competency services in criminal proceedings. We

conclude Secretary Meneses is not a state officer and dismiss.2

                                       BACKGROUND

       DSHS, through its Behavioral Health Administration (BHA), provides

behavioral health intervention, treatment, and education to Washington residents. 3

Relevant to this petition 4 are the services offered to criminal defendants by the

Office of Forensic Mental Health Services (OFMHS), a division of the BHA

created in 2015. The OFMHS provides competency related services to criminal

defendants, including evaluations for defendants whose competency to stand trial

is questioned and competency restoration treatment for persons found incompetent

to proceed to trial.

       DSHS has a statutory duty to provide competency services when a court so

orders. Under RCW 10.77.060(1)(b)(i), whenever there is doubt as to a defendant’s

competency, “the court on its own motion or on the motion of any party” must

       2
            Disability Rights Washington, American Civil Liberties Union of Washington, and
Washington Defender Association jointly filed an amicus brief in support of DSHS.
          3
            The parties submitted an agreed statement of facts and do not dispute the veracity of the
factual assertions made therein.
          4
            The BHA serves a number of different populations that are not at issue in this petition,
including criminal defendants found to be not guilty by reason of insanity, felony conversions
(i.e., criminal defendants whose felony charges are dismissed for reasons of incompetency and
are ordered to be committed to a state hospital for evaluation and possible commitment under the
involuntary treatment act (ITA), ch. 71.05 RCW, and RCW 10.77.086(5)), and civil patients (i.e.,
persons committed under the ITA for long-term treatment). See 1 Agreed Statement of Facts at
7-11.

                                                 2
Spokane County v. Meneses, No. 101520-8

review the allegations of incompetency and determine whether a genuine doubt

exists.5 Where there exists a genuine doubt as to a defendant’s competency, “the

court shall either appoint or request the secretary [of DSHS] to designate a

qualified expert or professional person . . . to evaluate and report upon the mental

condition of the defendant.” RCW 10.77.060(1)(b)(i). Once a competency

evaluation is ordered, the evaluation may occur in jail, in the community, or in a

DSHS facility, depending on the circumstances. RCW 10.77.060(1)(d); 1 Agreed

Statement of Facts at 7-8.

       Ultimately, the court determines a defendant’s competency to stand trial. If

the court finds the defendant incompetent, the criminal case is stayed, and the court

must—depending on the circumstances—order the defendant to undergo inpatient

or outpatient competency restoration treatment or dismiss the proceedings without

prejudice upon agreement of the parties if there exists “an appropriate and

available diversion program willing to accept the defendant.” RCW

10.77.084(1)(a), .086(1)(b). 6

       5
          In May 2023, the Washington Legislature enacted the Engrossed Second Substitute
Senate Bill 5440, which amended chapter 10.77 RCW and title 71 RCW to address the
“unprecedented wait times in jail” for admission to a psychiatric facility for services related to
competency to stand trial. ENGROSSED SECOND SUBSTITUTE S.B. 5440, at 1-2, 68th Leg., Reg.
Sess. (Wash. 2023) (E2SSB 5440). This petition was filed before the enactment of E2SSB 5440.
The Prosecutor asserts these changes to the statute are not material to this petition. Where
relevant, we note how the newly enacted statute differs from the statute in effect at the time this
petition was filed.
        6
          Prior to the 2023 amendments, former RCW 10.77.086(1) (2022) stated that “the court
shall commit the defendant to the custody of the secretary for inpatient competency restoration”

                                                 3
Spokane County v. Meneses, No. 101520-8

       Over the last decade, the number of court orders entered for competency

services has greatly increased. 7 DSHS has been unable to meet this demand,

resulting in significant delays in offering competency services to defendants.

Consequently, a class action was filed in federal court, challenging as

unconstitutional DSHS’s delays in providing competency services to criminal

defendants in pretrial custody. The United States District Court for the Western

District of Washington held these delays violated the class members’ due process

rights and issued a permanent injunction against DSHS. The injunction set strict

time limits for providing competency services to defendants in pretrial custody,

appointed a special court monitor, and began oversight of DSHS’s efforts to

comply with the injunction. See, e.g., Trueblood v. Wash. State Dep’t of Soc. &

Health Servs., 101 F. Supp. 3d 1010 (W.D. Wash. 2015), modified on remand, No.

or, in the alternative, order outpatient restoration treatment based on a recommendation from
DSHS and input from the parties. The amended statute added subsection (b), which requires that
the court first consider “all available and appropriate alternatives to inpatient competency
restoration” for certain eligible incompetent defendants. RCW 10.77.086(1)(b). It also requires
that the court “dismiss the proceedings without prejudice upon agreement of the parties” if
DSHS has found “an appropriate and available diversion program willing to accept” the eligible
defendant. RCW 10.77.086(1)(b).
         7
           “The number of competency evaluations requiring evaluation of a defendant held in jail
have more than tripled from 2,064 in 2013 to 6,199 in 2022.” 1 Agreed Statement of Facts at 22-
23. “Court orders for persons who are not in jail and are evaluated in the community while on
personal recognizance, have grown from 1,623 in 2019 to 2,087 in 2022, a 28.6% increase.” 1
Agreed Statement of Facts at 23. The demand for competency evaluations of defendants that
require admission into a DSHS facility “have remained flat at 292 per year.” 1 Agreed Statement
of Facts at 23. “Inpatient competency restoration orders have tripled from 694 in 2013 to 2,105
in 2022.” 1 Agreed Statement of Facts at 23.

                                                4
Spokane County v. Meneses, No. 101520-8

C14-1178 MJP, 2016 WL 4268933 (W.D. Wash. Aug. 15, 2016) (court order);8 1

Agreed Statement of Facts at 25 n.2, 38-40.

       The Trueblood injunction and corresponding federal court oversight of

DSHS’s compliance are ongoing. As part of the injunction, DSHS is required to

submit monthly reports to the court monitor, detailing its compliance.9 The court

monitor regularly conducts on-site visits to DSHS treatment facilities to review

implementation efforts and issues reports following these visits. The federal court

holds quarterly status hearings to review DSHS’s efforts to timely provide

competency services to class members and imposes monthly contempt fines

against DSHS for its continued failure to comply with the injunction. 1 Agreed

Statement of Facts at 43-45, 40 (showing that as of January 2023, DSHS has paid

over $100 million in contempt fines).

       Despite these efforts, DSHS’s delay in providing competency services to

criminal defendants continues. And, as noted by the Trueblood court, the

individuals awaiting these services are some of our most vulnerable. The average

Trueblood member “is a male, person of color . . . living in desperate poverty; . . .

experiencing homelessness or living without stable housing; . . . possessing little

       8
          The United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit’s vacatur and remand concerns
a group of defendants not at issue in this petition.
        9
          These monthly reports are published and may be found at
https://www.dshs.wa.gov/bha/court-monitor-reports.

                                               5
Spokane County v. Meneses, No. 101520-8

likelihood of employment; . . . suffering from a serious mental illness . . . ; [and]

requiring substance use disorder treatment.” A.B. by and through Trueblood v.

Wash. State Dep’t of Soc. & Health Servs., ___ F. Supp. 3d ___ (W.D. Wash. July

7, 2023), 2023 WL 4407539, at *5. “‘These vulnerable people too often find

themselves involved with the criminal justice system because of nonresponsive

health and human services systems upon which they would better depend for care,

treatment, rehabilitation, and recovery support services.’” A.B., 2023 WL 4407539,

at *4 (quoting court monitor’s quarterly report at 1 (June 8, 2023)). Most of these

individuals have contact with the criminal justice system for “commit[ting] crimes

linked to poverty and homelessness in which they live and their underlying mental

health conditions. . . . [such as] theft of food, indecent exposure for urinating or

defecating in public due to the lack of an available restroom[], or trespassing on

private property to sleep.” A.B., 2023 WL 4407539, at *5. And Trueblood

members—who await competency services in jail—“face serious harms to their

physical and mental safety and wellbeing.” A.B., 2023 WL 4407539, at *5.

      DSHS’s delay in complying with its statutory obligation to provide

competency services to criminal defendants is the basis for this petition for writ of

mandamus. The petition specifically concerns three categories of Spokane County

defendants in felony criminal proceedings ordered to receive competency services

from DSHS.

                                           6
Spokane County v. Meneses, No. 101520-8

      The first group is out of custody defendants ordered to undergo a

competency evaluation by DSHS in the community. The legislature has established

a statutory “performance target of 21 days or fewer to complete a competency

evaluation in the community.” RCW 10.77.068(1)(c). However, according to

DSHS, “most out-of-custody defendants are evaluated within 11-13 months of a

court order.” 1 Agreed Statement of Facts at 18. The Prosecutor asserts, and DSHS

does not dispute, that some Spokane County defendants have waited well over a

year for an outpatient competency evaluation. 1 Agreed Statement of Facts at 17; 3

Agreed Statement of Facts (3 Agreed Exs.), Ex. 16, at 2150 (showing one

defendant waited over two years for an evaluation; ultimately, the State moved to

dismiss the case while still awaiting completion of the evaluation).

      The second group is out of custody defendants who have been found

incompetent to stand trial and await inpatient competency restoration services.

These defendants wait in the community for admission to inpatient restoration

treatment in a DSHS facility. The legislature has not established any statutory time

frame related to this competency service. DSHS does not prioritize this group over

defendants in pretrial custody, and this group faces unknown wait times for

admission into a facility. The Prosecutor alleges that as of January 31, 2023, two

Spokane County defendants had waited 13 and 18 months to be admitted to

inpatient restoration treatment. 3 Agreed Exs., Ex. 15, at 2109.

                                          7
Spokane County v. Meneses, No. 101520-8

      The third group is defendants in pretrial custody awaiting inpatient

competency restoration services. These defendants have been found incompetent

and ordered to undergo inpatient competency restoration treatment provided by

DSHS. DSHS is statutorily required to extend an offer of admission to these

defendants within 7 days from DSHS’s receipt of the court order or 14 days from

signature of the court order, whichever is shorter. RCW 10.77.068(1)(a), (2)(a).

This group is subject to the Trueblood injunction, which—based on a settlement

agreement by the parties—adopted the statutory time limits. Trueblood, 2017 WL

1488479, at *1 (modifying the injunction to provide that “DSHS shall admit class

members for either inpatient competency evaluation or restoration within the

shorter of either a) 7 days from receipt of order or b) 14 days from signature of

order”); 2 Agreed Statement of Facts (Agreed Exs.), Ex. 11, at 1827 (am.

settlement agreement). In early 2023, DSHS estimated that these defendants wait

approximately 5 to 6 months in pretrial custody before receiving inpatient

restoration treatment.

      In response to DSHS’s continued delay in providing these competency

services, the Prosecutor requests we issue a writ of mandamus compelling DSHS

to perform its statutory obligations within reasonable timelines or, where

applicable, within the specified time frames set out in RCW 10.77.068 and the

Trueblood injunction. While DSHS’s failure to comply with its statutory

                                          8
Spokane County v. Meneses, No. 101520-8

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.

                                     ANALYSIS

      The Washington Supreme Court has “original jurisdiction in . . . mandamus

as to all state officers.” WASH. CONST. art. IV, § 4. The Prosecutor requests that

this court exercise its original jurisdiction to issue a writ of mandamus to the

secretary of DSHS under article IV, section 4 of the Washington Constitution and

chapter 7.16 RCW. DSHS argues we must dismiss the petition for lack of original

jurisdiction because the secretary is not a state officer within the meaning of our

state constitution. We conclude the secretary is not a state officer.

      We recently analyzed the “state officer” question in Ladenburg v. Henke,

197 Wn.2d 645, 486 P.3d 866 (2021), where we discussed and applied the

analytical framework this court has followed for over 100 years. In Ladenburg, we

considered whether municipal court judges are state officers under article IV,

section 4. We concluded they are not. In reaching this conclusion, we recognized

that under our case law, “‘state officers’ refers to a narrow set of elected officials

who exercise state-level authority and are in turn controlled by constitutional

provisions directly governing their appointment, salary, and impeachment.”

Ladenburg, 197 Wn.2d at 650. We highlighted that the references to “state

officers” in the state constitution as it existed in 1889 indicated “that when our

                                           9
Spokane County v. Meneses, No. 101520-8

constitution was enacted, ‘state officers’ were, at a minimum, elected officers and

subject to impeachment.” Ladenburg, 197 Wn.2d at 651.

      DSHS argues that Ladenburg established a bright line rule that a state officer

must be elected and subject to impeachment. The Prosecutor counters that

Ladenburg and “state officer” should not be interpreted so narrowly. Instead, he

argues, we should interpret Ladenburg as establishing a list of factors to consider

in assessing whether a public official is a state officer under article IV, section 4.

Under this argument, impeachment and the manner of appointment are

nondispositive factors. The Prosecutor argues this approach is consistent with the

Ladenburg analysis and our case law.

      While we expressly stated that a state officer must be elected and subject to

impeachment, our analysis in Ladenburg treats these characteristics as factors

rather than requirements. For instance, in Ladenburg, the municipal court judges

were elected officials but were not subject to removal through impeachment. If

state officers are, “at a minimum, elected officers and subject to impeachment,”

then we could have ended our inquiry after concluding that municipal judges were

not subject to impeachment. We did not. Instead, we discussed the four

characteristics that make a public official a state officer, as established by our

precedent: (1) the manner in which the official was appointed to their position, (2)

the source of their salary, (3) whether they are subject to impeachment, and (4) the

                                           10
Spokane County v. Meneses, No. 101520-8

official’s jurisdictional reach. Ladenburg, 197 Wn.2d at 653-59. And we called

these characteristics “factors” throughout the opinion.

      Additionally, Ladenburg suggests that the ultimate question in determining

whether a public official is a state officer is whether the official is part of the

“narrow group of high-ranking public officials” that is subject to state control.

Ladenburg, 197 Wn.2d at 652. The Ladenburg factors help answer this question by

considering whether the “state controls” the official “through appointment, salary,

and impeachment” and whether the official “wield[s] some state-level authority” or

“‘repose[s] some part of the state’s sovereign power.’” Ladenburg, 197 Wn.2d at

653, 652 (quoting State ex rel. Dunbar v. State Bd. of Equalization, 140 Wash.

433, 437, 249 P. 996 (1926)).

      First, we consider the manner in which the position is appointed. Ladenburg

summarized our case law as establishing that state officers are “limited to those

elected officials whom the state controls.” Ladenburg, 197 Wn.2d at 653

(emphasis added). The secretary is not an elected position.

      Second, we consider whether the public official is subject to impeachment.

In Ladenburg, we identified that impeachment has been treated as the primary

factor in determining whether a public official was a state officer. We concluded

the framers intended state officers to be limited to those superior officers subject to

impeachment under article V, section 2 of the Washington Constitution. WASH.

                                            11
Spokane County v. Meneses, No. 101520-8

CONST. art. V, § 2 (“The governor and other state and judicial officers . . . shall be

liable to impeachment for high crimes or misdemeanors, or malfeasance in

office.”); Ladenburg, 197 Wn.2d at 652 (citing State ex rel. Stearns v. Smith, 6

Wash. 496, 497-98, 33 P. 974 (1893)). The secretary “hold[s] office at the pleasure

of the governor” and is not subject to impeachment. RCW 43.17.020; RCW

43.20A.040; RCW 43.06.070 (“The governor may remove from office any state

officer appointed by him or her not liable to impeachment, for incompetency,

misconduct, or malfeasance in office.”).

      Third, we consider the source of the official’s salary. A salary that is paid by

the State weighs in favor of the position being a state officer. Ladenburg, 197

Wn.2d at 654-55. The source of the secretary’s salary is the State, and the

secretary’s salary is fixed by the governor. RCW 43.03.028, .040; RCW

43.20A.040; 1 Agreed Statement of Facts at 3; see also Resp’t’s Br. at 35

(acknowledging the secretary’s salary is paid by the State).

      Fourth, an official that “wield[s] some state-level authority” weighs in favor

of concluding they are a state officer. Ladenburg, 197 Wn.2d at 653. However, this

factor is not dispositive and has previously been significant where the public

official wielded part of the State’s sovereign power. For instance, in Dunbar, we

concluded that members of the State Board of Equalization—a position that was

neither elected nor subject to impeachment—were state officers because the

                                           12
Spokane County v. Meneses, No. 101520-8

position “reposed some part of the state’s sovereign power.” Dunbar, 140 Wash. at

437. Specifically, board members had the State’s sovereign power to levy taxes.

Here, the secretary’s statutorily created duties, while statewide in nature, are not

equivalent to a sovereign power. The legislature designed DSHS to “integrate and

coordinate all those activities involving provision of care for individuals who, as a

result of their economic, social or health condition, require financial assistance,

institutional care, rehabilitation or other social and health services.” RCW

43.20A.010. And DSHS carries out its duties and administers its programs across

the state of Washington, with the secretary acting as the chief executive officer.

RCW 43.17.020; RCW 43.20A.050. However, the secretary’s statutory duties are

not comparable to the State’s sovereign powers.

      Because the secretary is not elected, subject to impeachment, or granted a

State sovereign power, we conclude the position is not a state officer under article

IV, section 4 of the Washington Constitution. Accordingly, we dismiss the petition

for writ of mandamus.

                                          13
Spokane County v. Meneses, No. 101520-8

:(&21&85

                                               Keenan, J.P.T.

                                          14
Spokane County v. Meneses
(Montoya-Lewis, J., concurring)

                                      No. 101520-8

       MONTOYA-LEWIS, J. (concurring)—I agree with the majority but write

separately to emphasize the complexity of the procedures involved that would allow

this court to address the underlying issues raised by this writ of mandamus. The

issue of how trial courts ensure that those who come before the courts with

competency issues are treated fairly gave me grave concern during my time as a

Whatcom County Superior Court judge. There, I signed hundreds of orders for both

in-custody and out-of-custody competency evaluations and restoration orders, and,

eventually, signed many orders holding the Washington State Department of Social

and Health Services (DSHS) in contempt for failing to timely provide these services.

       The federal Trueblood 1 litigation has provided some relief for its class

members (in-custody defendants) by reducing the wait times for competency

evaluations. But, as the majority notes, millions of dollars of contempt fines have

been issued and are still being issued against the State for violations of federal orders

under Trueblood and of state court orders finding repeated violations of court orders

       1
        Trueblood v. Wash. State Dep’t of Soc. & Health Servs., 101 F. Supp. 3d 1010 (W.D.
Wash. 2015), modified on remand, No. C14-1178 MJP, 2016 WL 4268933 (W.D. Wash. Aug.
15, 2016) (court order).
                                             1
Spokane County v. Meneses
(Montoya-Lewis, J., concurring)

requiring that services be performed within a certain time frame. Majority at 4-5.

During the last several years, the backlog of people needing such services has only

grown. The growth in the need for such services has been the subject of much

speculation, but the reason for the need matters less than the demand for the services.

As the State emphasized during oral argument in this case, it has sought and received

additional funding from the legislature for additional evaluation and restoration

beds, more staffing, and even additional hospitals. Wash. Sup. Ct. oral arg., Spokane

County v. Jilma Meneses, No. 101520-8, at 28 min., 9 sec. through 29 min., 1 sec.,

video recording by TVW, Washington State’s Public Affairs Network,

https://tvw.org/video/washington-state-supreme-court-2024011343/. Even as these

services are being added, wait times for many of these services has either stayed the

same or increased. The consequences for this situation are dire and, in my view,

should be viewed as tragic for the people waiting for services and risky for the public

when people with outstanding criminal cases cannot get to trial because they are

waiting for competency evaluations or restoration services; and it should serve to

remind our judicial system that “justice too long delayed is justice denied.” MARTIN

LUTHER KING, JR., Letter from Birmingham Jail, in WHY WE CAN’T WAIT (1964).

       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. Though I do not believe that this court possesses a singular

                                           2
Spokane County v. Meneses
(Montoya-Lewis, J., concurring)

solution, I do understand why the plaintiffs attempted to get the court’s involvement:

because the issue appears intractable. As amici suggested in their briefing, counties

facing this issue could divert those with mental health issues from the criminal

justice system into community based mental health services, and could choose not

to file so many of these cases as criminal cases when they stem from mental health

issues. Br. of Amici Curiae Disability Rts. Wash., Am. Civ. Liberties Union of

Wash., and Wash. Def. Ass’n at 3, 20-24. Even where there have been attempts to

address this issue within communities, a lack of funding and increasing demand for

such services has proved that diversion can be only part of the solution.

       The primary reason I write separately is to note that there does not appear to

me to be any obvious legal procedure by which a case involving competency or

restoration wait times gets to an appellate court. Allow me to explain via three

hypothetical scenarios that illuminate the problem.

       SCENARIO #1: A person is charged with two felonies for entering a grocery

store from which they are trespassed and stealing a cart full of food, then gets

arrested and comes before a judge for arraignment. Prior to the hearing, the person

meets with assigned defense counsel, who finds the person to be responding to

external stimuli that is not there (talking back to voices, seeing people who are not

in the room). Defense counsel motions the court for a competency evaluation and

the State recommends that the person be held on $50,000 bail. The judge sets that

                                          3
Spokane County v. Meneses
(Montoya-Lewis, J., concurring)

bail and orders a competency evaluation be completed in accordance with the statute.

That deadline passes, the person remains in custody without evaluation or mental

health support and requires significant time from correctional officers due to the

ongoing mental health crisis. The judge finds DSHS in contempt and orders a daily

fine until an evaluation is performed, and eventually the person is taken to an

inpatient state-run facility and evaluated.

       The evaluator finds the person is suffering from a serious mental health

disorder and also finds that with in-patient treatment for competency restoration, the

person is reasonably expected to be rendered competent. The person returns back to

the county jail to wait for an open restoration bed, while continuing to decompensate

in jail. Eventually, a restoration bed opens, the person is transported there, spends

90 days receiving medications and treatment, and is restored to competency. They

are transported back to the county jail to address the charges for which they were

arrested. Since the date of arrest and the return after restoration services, six months

has elapsed.

       The defendant and defense counsel meet to decide how to proceed in the case.

The prosecutor makes an offer to the defendant to plead guilty to one of the charges

and receive credit for time served. The defendant accepts that offer, pleads guilty,

and gets released from custody into the community (probably without any ongoing

care plan in place). At this point, the case ends and no appeal occurs.

                                              4
Spokane County v. Meneses
(Montoya-Lewis, J., concurring)

       SCENARIO #2: A young person is found setting fire to a local library and is

arrested at the scene and booked into custody. Upon being charged for arson, the

police note that the person has five prior convictions for arson. At arraignment, the

defendant pleads not guilty and bail is set at $250,000. Defense counsel meets with

the defendant a few days later, in custody, and believes the defendant is suffering

from a mental illness. Defense counsel asks for a hearing at which the judge orders

a competency evaluation. Again, the defendant waits longer than the statutory

minimum for an evaluation but ultimately receives one. The defendant is referred

to restoration, but after multiple restoration periods, experts determine the defendant

to be unrestorable, and the case resolves either by (1) the State dropping the charges

entirely or (2) proceeding to a trial with an insanity plea. If found not guilty by

reason of insanity, the defendant may be committed to a mental health facility for

years. Again, I see very few ways the issue—waiting longer than the statutory

minimum for an evaluation and being deemed unrestorable—may become an

appealable issue.

       SCENARIO #3: A defendant is charged with a low-level felony theft and is

released without having to post bail. After some initial meetings with the defense

counsel, counsel believes the client is unable to participate in their own defense due

to a multitude of conspiracy theories they advance that led them to commit a crime.

At a pretrial hearing, defense counsel seeks an out-of-custody competency

                                          5
Spokane County v. Meneses
(Montoya-Lewis, J., concurring)

evaluation. The defendant is placed on a waiting list, which is several months long.

When an appointment opens for their evaluation, the defendant’s location has

become impossible to determine because they have lost their housing. The court

issues a bench warrant for failure to appear at their next hearing and they remain on

bench warrant status for years. The case does not advance past this stage given the

defendant’s unknown whereabouts. Should the defendant be arrested while on

warrant status, the defendant would likely need the same competency evaluation,

which, again, may not happen for months.

       I could advance multiple other scenarios demonstrating the complexity of how

these cases evolve. But primarily, I am showing that there are few scenarios, if any,

that lead an appellate court to be able to grapple with the problems of competency

evaluations and restoration orders being provided in a timely way under the statute,

or in a timely way for a case to be resolved in the instance that the statute does not

set out a statutory time period for the completion of evaluations.

       Thus, it remains an ongoing and daily frustration of the trial courts who have

to manage huge backlogs of competency evaluations and restorations, which then

results in the resolution of cases, either through trial, plea, or dismissal. Trial courts

have limited enforcement authority beyond contempt findings and fines. Ultimately,

the payment of contempt fines comes from public budgets that are also needed to

address the underlying issue. Consequently, many judges are reluctant to assess

                                            6
Spokane County v. Meneses
(Montoya-Lewis, J., concurring)

those fines but see little else that can move the State forward in meeting this

extraordinary and growing need.

       Again, I do not think the appellate courts necessarily have an answer to this

problem either. I recognize that the federal court in Trueblood has undertaken a

tremendous, yearslong effort to get the State closer to compliance for in-custody

defendants, and there has been improvement. But this does not address out-of-

custody matters and has not solved this issue overall.       While I agree with the

majority that this writ has not been the appropriate vehicle for this case to be

addressed by this court, I struggle to see how this issue ever reaches this court to

begin with and, therefore, worry that this problem will continue to worsen and

become an intractable barrier that trial judges struggle to solve alone.

       Therefore, I respectfully concur.

                                           7