Significant increase in WA lawsuit payouts strain local, state budgets
Lawsuits drain billions from Washington state budget
Tort liability payouts reached a record $500 million in Washington in 2025, using tax dollars to settle cases involving severe child abuse and state negligence lawsuits targeting DCYF.
Your tax dollars are paying out an astronomical increase in lawsuits.
It’s a major strain on state and local budgets—called "tort liability." That’s when the government gets sued—and must pay a settlement or jury award.
Just last year, the state paid out a record-breaking $500 million, which is five times the amount in 2021. As of now, lawmakers are struggling to find a solution.
"It's taking one of the biggest tolls on budgets, across local and state government right now," says State Senator Yasmin Trudeau.
FILE - The Washington State Capitol building is seen on the first day of the legislative session, Jan. 8, 2024, in Olympia, Wash. (AP Photo/Lindsey Wasson, File)
A Billion-Dollar Budget Item
State lawmakers set aside $956 million in this year's legislative session to pay out lawsuits against state agencies. It was the largest item of new spending, and it makes a grand total of nearly $1.3 billion in the current two-year budget.
The majority of those funds cover lawsuits against the Department of Children, Youth, and Families (DCYF). DCYF is taking 62% of that pot, which equals a whopping $800 million.
The cases are often horrific, involving child abuse and state negligence. In January, lawmakers heard emotional testimony from a man who says he endured childhood abuse at a state-licensed facility.
"The state continued to send children like me to the place that could not and did not protect them from abuse."
Record-Breaking Verdicts
In April, a Tacoma jury returned the largest verdict of its kind in state history, awarding $130 million to the estate of Sarai Brooks. The 2-year-old died of blunt force trauma in 2022. Her mother and her mother's boyfriend were both convicted in connection with the toddler's death.
In a civil suit, the jury found the state and a daycare center both failed to act on clear warning signs of abuse.
Unprecedented Surge in Claims
Over the last several years, DCYF has seen an unprecedented surge in lawsuits. In 2025, DCYF had 1,454 tort claims filed against it—that's almost triple the number in 2024. This follows recent State Supreme Court rulings that expanded the state's responsibility to foster children and lifted the statute of limitations in child sex abuse cases.
"We need to have a clear eyed conversation that there has been past harms to children that are inexcusable. And there are probably harms that are existing right now because we don't have the right supports in place," Trudeau stated.
Democratic State Senator Yasmin Trudeau says Washington's foster care and juvenile justice systems are falling short. She's not the only lawmaker who wants to take a hard look at DCYF. Republican State Senator Chris Gildon has proposed a re-structuring of the agency's staffing.
"One of the reasons these tort payments are coming through is they simply don't have enough frontline workers, they need more boots on the ground, they need fewer people doing the mid-management jobs," Gildon said.
Judge Patricia H. Clark Children and Family Justice Center
Local Governments in Crisis
The crushing cost of lawsuits has also put city and county budgets in crisis. Derek Young with the Washington State Association of Counties points to Washington's policy in what's called "joint and several liability."
"If you're found even 1% responsible, you have to pay for the full. You're on the hook for the full freight," Young said.
While jury awards may divide responsibility, if one defendant doesn't have the money to pay up, other defendants are equally responsible for the full amount.
"So what in fact happens is governments become the insurer for the misconduct of others," Young said.
Young says unlike other states, Washington doesn't protect itself from runaway costs of lawsuits.
"Other states though, either give sovereign immunity to governments to protect them or enact some sort of cap," Young said.
The Washington Outlier
Take Oregon for comparison. It strictly limits the state's legal liability with a set of caps—currently no higher than $5.4 million.
In Washington, the statute simply says the state is liable for damages to the same extent as if it were a private person or corporation.
"This is an extreme outlier. Washington is totally on its own," Young added.
Looking Ahead
Without action from the Legislature, Young fears some counties could soon declare bankruptcy. Lawmakers are discussing ways to address the state's growing tort liability. While protecting victim access to restitution is a clear priority, it's a discussion that Trudeau hopes will gain more attention.
"There may not be a lot of folks that know about this as a kitchen table issue, but it absolutely should be," Trudeau said.
What's next:
Lawmakers say the conversation about lawsuits straining budgets need to be elevated because right now there is no viable solution.
But there is some effort to address the issue.
This year, the state convened a "Tort Claim Study Committee" to develop recommended changes to the current system.
That committee met for the first time earlier this month and will issue a report to the Governor by November.
The other side:
FOX 13 reached out to DCYF for a response. The agency released this statement:
"Taking fiscal year 2025 for example, that is July 1, 2024, through June 30, 2025, more than 74% of the claims filed against DCYF arose from events that allegedly occurred before 2010, with 55% of the claims filed alleging events that occurred before 2000. Decades-old events drive most of the claims being filed against DCYF. We are participating in the state’s review of torts issues alongside our partners, and we are genuinely interested in what that work produces."
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The Source: Information in this story came from the Washington State Legislature, and interview with Derek Young with the Washington State Association of Counties, a statement from the Department of Children, Youth, and Families, and original FOX 13 Seattle reporting.