Law360 (November 5, 2026, 4:12 PM EST) -- Washington state must pay plaintiffs' counsel roughly $73,000 in attorney fees and costs in a long-running case over its treatment of pretrial detainees in criminal proceedings, a Washington federal judge has ruled.

The attorney fees and costs that U.S. District Judge John H. Chun awarded Wednesday cover plaintiffs' counsel's work from July through September this year. His order comes after U.S. District Court Judge Marsha J. Pechman hit the state with a $100 million fine in 2023 for class settlement violations, finding that the Washington Department of Social and Health Services "knowingly and inexcusably" denied detainee class members timely competency evaluations and other services.

The parties reached the class settlement in 2018 after the court issued its permanent injunction in 2015, requiring in part that DSHS provide detainees "competency evaluation and restoration services" within strict time limits. Such services help the state determine whether detainees understand charges against them and are fit to stand trial.

Under the federal district court's 2016 modified injunction, DSHS must complete an in-jail competency evaluation within 14 days of the date of the signing of a court order requiring such an evaluation. If it cannot, fines start to accrue unless the state can obtain a "good cause exception," according to court filings.

In August 2024, the district court issued an order allowing Washington to seek reductions in fines across a rolling window looking back six months. The state most recently sought good cause exceptions on Oct. 30, records show.

Representatives for the parties did not immediately respond to a request for comment Thursday.

The plaintiffs are represented by Christopher Carney of Carney Gillespie PLLP and by Kimberly Mosolf and Chloe Merino of Disability Rights Washington.

The Washington State defendants are represented by Daniel J. Judge, Marko Pavela and Anthony Vaupel of the Washington State Office of the Attorney General.

The case is Cassie Cordell Trueblood et al. v. Washington State Department of Health and Human Services et al., number 2:14-cv-01178, in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington.

--Additional reporting by Rachel Riley. Editing by Amy French.

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