Seattle Community Court nixed; 1,000 misdemeanor cases dismissed

Nearly 1,000 cases will be dismissed as the City Attorney pulls away from Seattle's long-standing Community Court program.

"With our office’s limited resources, it’s critical that we make data driven decisions to invest in the most effective programs." City Attorney Ann Davison said. "Our data shows that pre-filing diversion is more effective compared to Community Court."

Community Court routed misdemeanor cases to services instead of jail time, but City Attorney Ann Davison argued this blanket application ignored how serious the offence could be.

Davison’s office was obligated to move offences like property crimes, trespassing, and burglary into a scheme where the defendant would be directed to services, then complete 6 hours of community service.

"I know that dismissal sounds really drastic, but there is no appreciable difference between dismissal and the absence of consequences for these defendants in Community Court." Criminal Division Chief Natalie Walton-Anderson said.

Walton-Anderson argues in 2022, defendants were only present at one in every three hearings.

Now, diversion will be at the discretion of the City Attorney’s Office.

"We also have the ability now to have criminal history disqualifiers that we did not have before." Walton-Anderson said. "We also have to understand that there are a lot of people who are charged with crimes that need services, and those services need to be immediate."

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"Our oldest case has been in community court for 32 months," said Walton-Anderson. "What I'm what I'm trying to say here is that essentially, at this point, there have been no consequences for any of those cases."