Seattle City Attorney's Criminal Division Chief Will Leave at End of February
Walton-Anderson oversaw creation of high-utilizer program, end of Community Court
By Erica C. Barnett
Natalie Walton-Anderson, the head of City Attorney Ann Davison’s criminal division, is leaving at the end of February after just over two years in the position, PubliCola has learned. According to a spokesman for Davison’s office, Walton-Anderson was not fired or asked to resign; in an email announcing her resignation to staff yesterday, Walton-Anderson wrote that she needs to “take a break and reset after 27 years working in the criminal legal system.”
In her email, Walton-Anderson thanked her colleagues for their work “in trial” last week—apparently a reference to the city’s lawsuit against a Stop the Sweeps protester who allegedly ignored police orders to climb down from an RV during one of the city’s sweeps of unsheltered people’s vehicles last year. “I want to acknowledge the incredible teamwork and trial advocacy of Michelle Kfoury, Katrina Outland, Emilee McNeilly, and Joshua Shea and Alisha Saddler last week,” Walton-Anderson wrote. “You went into battle on behalf of the city of Seattle and your hard work is very much appreciated. It was amazing to see the division rally around you and support your work in trial.”
In an email to staff, Davison praised Walton-Anderson’s “tremendous impact at the City Attorney’s Office. … Under her leadership, the Criminal Division eliminated the 5,000 case backlog my administration inherited, created the High Utilizer Initiative, significantly increased our pre-file diversion program, and helped repair many parts of criminal justice system that were not functioning.”
The high-utilizer initiative targets people with multiple arrests on their records for prosecution, including people whose underlying problems—like profound addiction—are poorly served by arrest, prosecution, and jail. Initially, Davison’s office used the framework to exclude people from community court, a therapeutic court that allowed some misdemeanor defendants to access services without risking jail for failing to comply with court orders. Later, Walton-Anderson announced that her office was withdrawing from community court, effectively ending the program.
As Davison noted in her email, Walton-Anderson focused on “clearing the backlog” of cases by making filing decisions quickly, which initially meant dismissing many old cases that would have been difficult to prosecute, given their age.
But she has also reportedly been aggressive about filing charges in drug-related cases that would ordinarily get channeled into the city’s pre-booking diversion program, LEAD, which enrolls low-level offenders into community-based services instead of sending them through the criminal legal system. Police (and, until the passage of a law enabling prosecutions for public drug use limited its scope, community members) use LEAD as an alternative to arrest and booking; the program, started in Belltown in 2011, has been replicated across the country.
People whose cases aren’t diverted to LEAD can end up in pre-filing diversion programs; these programs, which include art therapy and online courses, are generally geared toward people with less history in the criminal legal system and those without serious underlying issues like fentanyl addiction.
The city attorney’s office did not provide details about the hiring process for Walton-Anderson’s successor; the position is apparently not subject to a citywide hiring freeze, which exempted “essential” roles. Last year, after Davison’s office said they were having trouble recruiting qualified assistant prosecutors, the city increased prosecutors’ wages by 20 percent.
Arrest, prosecution, and punishment is an excellent response to public intoxication and drug activity. People do not fundamentally change their behavior because of “art therapy” or community service.
Soft treatment of these public order crimes is designed to destroy the spiritual health of as many middle and working class people as possible, as a way of reducing resistance to rule by Seattle & Washington’s new aristocrats - high status people who HATE having to defer, in matters of governance, to free citizens of lower status than themselves. In a nutshell - more addicts means fewer MAGA voters.