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Thurston County, Washington

The content on the Thurston County website is currently provided in English. We are providing the “Translation” for approximately 10 languages. The goal of the translation is to provide visitors with limited English proficiency to access information on the website in other languages. The translations do not translate all types of documents, and it may not give you an exact translation all the time. The translations are made through an automated process, which may not result in accurate or precise translations, particularly of technical and legal terminology.

Public Defense

What is State v. Blake? 

A 2021 Washington State Supreme Court decision that declared Washington’s previous Unlawful Possession of a Controlled Substance (UPCS) law was unconstitutional.
See State v. Blake, 197 Wn.2d 170 (2021).

As a result, anyone with a previous conviction for simple possession of a controlled substance under RCW 69.50.4013 (and its predecessor statutes) is eligible to have it removed (“vacated”) from their criminal record. You also could be eligible for a refund of any legal financial obligations (LFOSs) paid associated with the conviction.

Additionally, if you are currently serving a term of community custody due to a UPCS conviction, you may be entitled to have your term of community custody stricken. Moreover, if you are currently serving a prison sentence for a non-UPCS conviction but have a prior UPCS conviction that scored against you in your offender score, you may be entitled to resentencing with a corrected offender score calculation.
 

If you are interested in having the Thurston County Public Defense move to vacate your conviction(s) and address other potential relief, please call or send us an email (see “contact information”). You may also write to us at Thurston County Public Defense, Attention: Blake Team, 926 24th Way SW, Olympia, WA 98502.

When contacting us, please include the following information:

FULL LEGAL NAME (if your name changed, please also include your name at time case was filed)

DATE OF BIRTH

CASE # (if available, or approximate date when case was filed)

PHONE NUMBER, MAILING ADDRESS AND EMAIL ADDRESS.

IF ON PROBATION (COMMUNTITY CUSTODY SUPERVISION), YOUR ESTIMATED RELEASE DATE

If you need to complete an indigency screening form, click here.

We can help! Call to speak with our team of attorneys and staff to find out if your conviction qualifies for vacating pursuant to State v. Blake.

Blake Team:

 Peter Simpson, Attorney
Justin Gray, Attorney
 

(360) 754-4897
tcpd_blake@co.thurston.wa.us