(The Center Square) – King County Executive Dow Constantine has issued an executive order to revise the process for judicial inquiries into law enforcement-involved deaths.
The executive order was announced on Wednesday and goes into effect immediately. It shortens the judicial inquiry process to be completed within 12 months of a person’s death by focusing on the core investigative function.
According to Constantine’s office, the previous process saw judicial inquiries – also known as inquests – occur years after a deadly use-of-force incident occurred.
Prior to Constantine’s order, once an inquest jury completed, there was no further review of a case. In response, the new executive order establishes a “Deadly Incident Review and Recommendation Panel” which will review outcomes of inquest proceedings and law enforcement practices in order to develop recommendations for policy makers.
Constantine said members of the all-volunteer panel will include experts in law enforcement, mental health, civil rights law, and judicial practice, as well as a person whose family member died during an altercation with law enforcement or corrections.
Another key change involves revising the inquest process to now include an inquest administrator, inquest program attorneys, witnesses and a jury.
Counsel from the parties involved in a deadly use-of-force incident will have the opportunity to present their view on the matter to the inquest attorneys but will not be direct participants in the inquest itself.
“This streamlined inquest process will deliver objectivity, while easing the emotional toll on all involved, and will allow more effective review of officer training and use-of-force policies to help jurisdictions improve procedures and minimize the chance of deadly encounters involving law enforcement,” Constantine said in a statement.
The updated inquest process will be followed up with reviews of four cases: the death of Shaun Fuhr, which occurred on April 29, 2020; the death of River Hudson, which occurred on May 6, 2020; the death of Denis Rodriguez Martinez, which occurred on Feb. 7, 2019; and the death of Ryan Smith, which occurred on May 8, 2019.
Constantine began drafting the new executive order to update the county’s inquest process after a Washington Supreme Court ruling in 2021 changed the focus of inquests in a way that has resulted in what Constantine’s office describes as “unnecessarily contentious and drawn out.”
The Deadly Incident Review and Recommendation Panel is expected to convene for the first time later this spring once a nomination process is completed.
