The Times - Serving Waitsburg, Dayton and the Touchet Valley

DAYTON – On Sept. 14, Columbia County Superior Court Judge Jackie Shea-Brown ruled that the City of Dayton proved its burden in asking for an emergency temporary restraining order against Columbia County, requiring the county to continue providing municipal prosecution, and indigent defense services to the City.

The judge cited real injury to health, welfare, and safety of citizens if prosecutorial cases are not handled in a timely manner.

Columbia County Prosecutor Rea Culwell informed the city earlier this month that, because of a dispute with Columbia County Commissioners, her office will likely lose significant grant funding and therefore have to cut services, including those her office provides to the city.

Last week, the city, which has a contract with the county for prosecution and indigent defense, requested a temporary injunction against the county to require that the county’s end of the contract be met.

After the judge’s ruling, Culwell said that the court “reserved ruling on whether it could order an elected prosecutor to prosecute city cases, considering the Prosecutor is not a party to the contract between the City and the County.”

In her ruling, the judge asked that both parties provide briefings this week on the question of how the county’s end of the contract must be met.