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Law & Justice Public Review Committee
Committee report and presentation to Council
Read the committee final report and PowerPoint.
View the Committee of the Whole meeting where the report was presented.
About the Committee
The Pierce County Council created the law and justice public review committee in 2020 to review reports generated by the county’s law and justice departments, per Resolution R2020-43. The Council directed the County Executive to review the policies, procedures and best practices of these departments.
The departments included the Sheriff’s Department, corrections system, Assigned Counsel, Medical Examiner and Economic Development Department. Council also requested the Judicial Branch and Office of the Prosecuting Attorney provide a thorough review of policies, procedures and best practices in use as it relates to serving Pierce County residents.
Retired Pierce County Superior Court Judge Frank Cuthbertson served as facilitator of the committee, which was composed of 14 people, two from each of the seven Council districts.
The committee met weekly and focused on specific areas of review. The committee drafted a report with its observations and recommendations, which was shared with the Council at a Committee of the Whole meeting Nov. 18, 2020.
The report was reviewed by Council's Public Safety Committee at its Feb. 8, 2021 meeting.
Council intends to use the committee recommendations to inform its development of an action plan for how to prevent and reduce inequality and injustice, including the formulation and implementation of public policies and procedures that assure fair distribution of public services and management of county operated, public-serving institutions to achieve fairness, justice, equality and equity.
Committee organization
View the Purpose, Objectives and Operating Agreements of the Committee.
Public Comment
Public comment was accepted and reviewed by the committee. Comments were made both orally during meetings and in writing following meetings.
View written public comments received by the committee and written comments from committee members.
Watch the Law & Justice Public Review Committee
The Public Review Committee presented its final report with recommendations to Council at a Committee of the Whole meeting, Nov. 18, 2020. Click the link to view a recording of the meeting.
Committee members
District 1: Pablo Monroy, Tim Reynon |
District 2: Erin Calata, Paul M. Herrera |
District 3: Ken Garcy, Anthony McDaniel |
District 4: Preston Anderson, Tisha Wosencroft |
District 5: Shalisa Hayes, Jim Walton |
District 6: Alfred Authorlee, Jim Cook |
District 7: Richard Benson, Roxanne Simon |
Facilitator:
Retired Pierce County Superior Court Judge Frank Cuthbertson
Staff liaison:
Chris Carlson, Chief of Staff
Meeting timeline
The committee met virtually every week for seven weeks starting Sept. 23, 2020. Meetings were broadcast live and recordings are linked below.
Meeting date | Agenda | Meeting recordings |
---|---|---|
Sept. 23, 2020 | Click to view meeting agenda packet | Sept. 23, 2020 meeting (click to view) |
Sept. 30, 2020 | Law Enforcement and Corrections review. Agenda packet. | Sept. 30, 2020 meeting (click to view) |
Oct. 7, 2020 | Prosecuting Attorney's Office review. Agenda packet. | Oct. 7, 2020 meeting (click to view) |
Oct. 14, 2020 | Department of Assigned Counsel review, Medical Examiner's Office review, Department of Economic Development review. Agenda packet. | Oct. 14, 2020 meeting (click to view) |
Oct. 21, 2020 | Review of Superior and District courts. Agenda packet. | Oct. 21, 2020 meeting (click to view) |
Oct. 28, 2020 | Review and discussion of draft report. Agenda packet. View the draft report. | Oct. 28, 2020 meeting (click to view) |
Nov. 4, 2020 | Review and finalize report. Agenda packet (draft report included). | Nov. 4, 2020 meeting (click to view) |
Nov. 18 special Committee of the Whole meeting | Public Review Committee report to Council at Committee of the Whole meeting. | Nov. 18, 2020 Committee of the Whole (click to view) |
Reports and Data
Judicial Branch Law and Justice Review report
Pierce County Criminal Justice Review report
Economic Development Law and Justice Review report
Council meetings
Sept. 9, 2020 Committee of the Whole meeting
Sept. 16, 2020 Committee of the Whole meeting
Sept. 23, 2020 Committee of the Whole meeting
Oct. 7, 2020 Committee of the Whole meeting
Associated legislation
Resolution R2020-43, which directed the Executive and requested the Judicial Branch and Prosecuting Attorney to conduct the reviews.
Resolution R2020-75, changed the date for when the reports were presented to Council and moved the presentation from the Public Safety Committee to a Committee of the Whole meeting.
Resolution R2020-76, which established the public review committee on law and justice.