This bill amends RCW 10.101.030 to require each county or city covered by that chapter to adopt written standards for the delivery of public defense services, regardless of whether services are provided by contract counsel, assigned counsel, or a public defender office. The standards must address compensation of counsel; duties and responsibilities of counsel; caseload limits and types of cases; responsibility for expert witness fees and other costs; administrative expenses; support services; reports of attorney activity and vouchers; training; supervision, monitoring, and evaluation of attorneys; substitution or assignment of attorneys or contracts; limitations on private practice of contract attorneys; qualifications of attorneys; disposition of client complaints; cause for termination of a contract or removal of an attorney; and nondiscrimination. The bill also provides that, where practicable, the locally adopted standards should comply with Washington state court rules for public defense services and may incorporate standards endorsed by the Washington State Bar Association so long as those standards do not conflict with court rules. This is an administrative and procedural change requiring local adoption of specified standards; it does not create a new crime or change criminal penalties in the extracted text. Affected parties include counties and cities subject to the chapter, local legislative authorities that adopt the standards, public defense providers (contract attorneys, assigned counsel, and public defender offices), the Washington state court system (through applicable court rules), and the Washington State Bar Association. The bill was prefiled 12/17/25, read for the first time 01/12/26, and referred to the Committee on Law & Justice. The extracted text does not show whether the bill contains other sections, specific effective dates, appropriations, enforcement mechanisms, timelines for adoption, identification of the specific court rules referenced, or any fiscal impact.

If enacted, every county and city covered by this law would have to create and adopt local rules governing how public defense is delivered, covering pay, workloads, qualifications, supervision, training, costs like expert fees and administrative expenses, limits on private practice for contract attorneys, handling complaints, and nondiscrimination. That shifts a concrete responsibility to local legislative bodies and likely forces public defender offices and contract/assigned counsel to meet new local standards, which could increase local budgeting needs for higher compensation, more oversight and training, and payment of case-related costs, while also narrowing options for contract attorneys through qualification and practice limits. Key implementation details are missing, so the timing, who pays for any added costs, how compliance is enforced, and which specific state court rules apply are unclear; the provision that local standards should follow state court rules and may fold in Washington State Bar Association guidance affects content but does not resolve those budget or enforcement questions.