BI council receives update from judge on municipal court changes

Published 1:30 am Wednesday, May 28, 2025

The Bainbridge Island City Council reviewed a presentation from judge Thomas S. Alpaugh on updates of the municipal court, and discussed options for alteration or removal of a council art piece in the city council chambers at its May 20 meeting.

Regarding the municipal court, new updates include: awarding a new public defense contract, infraction resolution by mail, and hybrid court appearances. The court is located at the Ted Spearman Justice Center on Madison Avenue.

“Initially, when I took the bench, there was an issue with the public defenders that were representing defendants, and it became quite clear to me that it was wholly deficient in terms of their representation,” Alpaugh said.

Kitsap Law Group, based out of Silverdale, provides defendants legal representation, Alpaugh said.

Alpaugh has served Bainbridge Island as its municipal court judge for the last 15 months, and another change he has implemented is infraction resolution by mail.

“Typically in the past, what someone would have to do is actually show up in court to say, ‘Yes, I committed the speeding ticket.’ But they’d have to take a minimum half a day off, or sometimes a full day off, and it just seemed unreasonable to me. And so what we did was implement a system where they can resolve their mitigation hearings by mail”, he said.

Alpaugh said judges ultimately have a decision to grant or not grant a deferred finding.

“By law, you’re allowed to do one deferred finding every seven years, and it’s basically just continuing your speeding ticket for lack of a better infraction. And if you don’t have any other moving violations and pay $200, then the ticket is dismissed and it doesn’t go on your record, and insurance won’t go up,” he said.

Councilmember Clarence Moriwaki shared his perspective regarding judges being able to use their discretion.

“We always talk about the letter of the law and spirit of the law.. And letter is one thing, but the spirit is another. And I appreciate that you’re using common sense and flexibility,” he said.

Alpaugh also allows for some defendants to attend court appearances via Zoom. He said he takes into consideration the nature and severity of the offense. One issue Alpaugh highlighted is the complexity of courts using different filing systems for cases. This can make it harder for judges to get a better picture of a defendant’s previous legal history. This is an area Alpaugh said the court will continue to work to improve.

The council also reviewed a presentation about proposals around the alteration or removal of the council chamber timeline art. The installation was commissioned in 1998 by artist Michelle Van Slyke and cost $8,000 or roughly $15,500 in 2025.

In 2016, the council approved a resolution declaring the second Monday in October as Indigenous Peoples Day, per city documents.

Anshu Wahi, city equity and inclusion manager, said in 2016, one of the clauses in the resolution highlighted the lack of representation of Indigenous people, as significant dates and information were not included in the original art piece. The city plans to update the official timeline displayed in the city council chambers with additional significance to Indigenous communities.

Wahi said this had not been completed in 2023 when she formed a working group to provide a more diverse cross-section of community members to advise on next steps.

“As a Diversity, Equity and Inclusion professional, I also noticed other stories and other histories and perspectives were missing. So while the clause in the resolution was a great start and brought to light this issue, the timeline also didn’t seem to represent or include a lot of other stories and perspectives of diverse people,” she said.

Following these recommendations, the council was provided with four options to consider:Option one: Remove all lettering but keep the metal for new art.

Option two: Remove the entire art piece.

Option three: Keep the timeline, but remove and add new entries.

Option four: Do nothing and consider other alternatives.

After a series of meetings held throughout 2024, the working group’s recommendation was to remove all lettering and keep metal for new art, Wahi said.

After discussing the options council advised to move forward with option one to notify Arts and Humanities Bainbridge for their consideration. The topic will be up for approval at a future council meeting, city manager Blair King said.

Councilmembers Moriwaki and Kirsten Hytoupoulos pushed back on moving forward with option one and shared their concerns.

“It’s clear where the council is going to go, and that’s, of course, absolutely fine, but to have legitimate public comment, shouldn’t all the options be before the public at the next meeting. Shouldn’t we be just forwarding this to the next meeting for decisions, where we make decisions,” she said.

“This is something that has broader community appeal,” Moriwaki said. “I mean, we could just say we could forward this discussion to a future council business meeting for approval and authorization. You don’t have to spell one out. I think that’s limiting. I think they already made a predetermined decision, which is, I think, inappropriate, without having a real business meeting or discussion with the public.”