SPOKANE, Wash. — The partial government shutdown has taken a toll on the federal court system in the Inland Northwest.
In a statement from the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern Washington District their attorneys are still going to court, filing motions and seeking indictments, but they are not being paid.The office has presented nearly two dozen criminal indictments to the grand jury so far this month.
“The United States Attorney’s Office entire workforce subject to the lapse of appropriations, whether excepted or non-excepted, whether obligated to report to work or furloughed, have not receive paychecks in 2019,” Joseph Harrington of the U.S. Attorney’s office wrote in a statement.
The office is currently able to perform what is referred to as “excepted duties”. These are tasks that relate to keeping people safe and protecting property. In many cases, this means criminal matters. “Unexpected duties” are generally civil matters and administrative issues. Those have been put on hold.
“Those employees performing “excepted duties” are required to report for work, the other employees are nearly all furloughed,” Harrington wrote. “This office is staffed with professional, dedicated public servants who are committed to the gravely important and critical work of successfully fulfilling the mission of the office, work that often is publically overlooked or underappreciated.”
The Federal Defenders Office of Eastern Washington and Idaho is also dealing with the effects of the government shutdown also. Federal Defender Andrea George said their funding should last until March, but they are already to trying to save as much as they can, unaware of how long the shutdown will last.
“Everybody is hurt,” George said.
The Federal Defenders Office have had to delay cases, cut back on paying experts and sending attorneys to training. They even had to hold out on funds for some mental health evaluations.
George said they want to provide the best defense possible and that means in some instances pushing cases back until the shutdown ends.
District Court Executive Sean McAvoy said the district court has funding through Friday. If the shutdown continues the workers will be required to come to work, but they will not be paid at that time.
A statement from the U.S. District Court website says in part, “the Court would then operate under the terms of the Anti-Deficiency Act, which allows work to continue during a lapse in appropriations if it is necessary to support the exercise of Article III judicial powers. The Court is making contingency plans to address such a scenario.”
People are encouraged to check online for updates as the shutdown continues.
DOJ Contingency Plan if shutdown continues after Friday
Fed Court statement on website