City of Yakima’s Legal Dept. Making Changes to Save Money

The City of Yakima Legal Department is hiring a new attorney who will review what cases to prosecute. The change will save more of your tax money that would normally be spent on public defenders.

Last year, the Yakima City Attorney's Office handled more than 5,000 cases in the city's municipal court.

Many of those were thrown out, only after they'd already spent taxpayer money on things like public defenders, jail, and court costs.

The reason why? Up until this year Yakima police determined if charges were filed, not the city attorneys office.

So now, to save money, and comply with state law limiting the number of cases public defenders can handle, the city is hiring a new attorney to review police reports and determine whether charges should be filed.

The city anticipates saving taxpayers nearly half a million dollars and reducing their caseload by more than 25%.