(Image: King County Superior Court)
The King County Superior Court is still recovering from the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a presentation scheduled to take place at Tuesday’s meeting of the Seattle City Council public safety committee.
According to the presentation (PDF) from Ketu Shah, Presiding Judge, King County Superior Court, the court saw more than 5,000 criminal cases filed in 2024 — the highest total since numbers plunged during the pandemic due to closures, restrictions, and staffing issues.
Meanwhile, the bloated backlog of pending cases that surged above 6,000 in 2020, came in at just over 4,000 last year, up slightly from 2023.
(Image: King County Superior Court)
Like courts across the country and much of the world, the King County Superior Court experienced significant disruptions due to COVID-19 and health policies. The court adapted by implementing virtual hearings and trials, particularly in civil cases. However, as cases, faced considerable delays due to factors including social distancing, and staffing shortages, more complicated felony cases fell even further behind.
Meanwhile, increased crime rates added to growing backlogs.
The 5,169 criminal cases filed in King County Superior Court last year represented a 5.5% increase over 2023. Meanwhile, the backlog stands somewhere near 30% above pre-pandemic norms.
King County Prosecutor Leesa Manion said addressing the backlog was a priority when she took office in 2023. More stringent requirements for filing charges has raised the bar for adding more cases to the pile. In 2024, Manion’s office received nearly 8,300 cases for referred from law enforcement. Of the 3,440 in which it declined to file charges, her office cited insufficient legal grounds in 40% of the referred cases.
That number is a big jump from prior to the pandemic. In 2019, the office declined around a quarter of referred cases on insufficient evidence.
A larger change has come in policing and law enforcement. The prosecutor received a whopping 11,086 cases referred to its office that year. Five years and a pandemic later, referrals are down more than 25%.
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