SEATTLE, WA – Two new prosecutor positions will give the Seattle City Attorney’s Office (SCAO) unprecedented ability to go after pimps and guns, City Attorney Erika Evans announced Wednesday, by expanding the City Attorney’s criminal justice reach in ways never before attempted.  

“After years of experience prosecuting people who commit crimes in court, I know firsthand how hard it has been for Seattle to disrupt sex trafficking, disarm pimps, and impose real criminal consequences on offenders,” City Attorney Evans said. “Public safety is a team effort where different agencies and offices play different roles. Normally the City Attorney’s role stops at misdemeanors, but these two new city prosecutor positions will mean we can also contribute to work normally handled at the felony level. It’s important to me for CAO to do our part to help take more guns off the street and increase capacity to prosecute sex traffickers.”  

Increasing Seattle’s Capacity to Prosecute Pimps

SCAO’s criminal jurisdiction is limited to misdemeanors committed inside Seattle city limits. Felony crimes in the city are referred to the King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office (KCPAO). Most gun crimes and all sex trafficking crimes are felonies.  

SCAO’s new prosecutor position will be cross-deputized with the KCPAO, which means this new prosecutor will be able to pursue both felony crimes and misdemeanor casework within the city. City Attorney Evans advocated for the position, even though felony cases are outside her usual jurisdiction. Previously, the KCPAO has had a total of two Deputy Prosecuting Attorneys dedicated to prosecuting felony human trafficking crimes in all parts of King County. Evans’ new cross-deputized prosecutor will increase capacity for addressing trafficking by reviewing case referrals from the Seattle Police Department and filing cases where sufficient evidence exists. This added capacity will help hold pimps and child exploiters in Seattle accountable.  

“The sexual exploitation of children, women, and others from vulnerable communities along Aurora is unacceptable, and prosecutors need every available resource to hold the people who are profiting off of this violence accountable,” said King County Prosecuting Attorney Leesa Manion, who has made similar requests to the King County Council. “We also need additional police resources to investigate these serious crimes. I am grateful for City Attorney Evans’ leadership and partnership in addressing these crimes and increasing capacity for our Extreme Risk Protection Order Team. This collaboration is important, and I'm hopeful these resources will be sustained to ensure this effort is as successful as possible.”   

The idea for this new cross-deputized position sprung from conversations with Councilmember Debora Juarez in early January. Councilmember Juarez fought for the resources required to enhance Seattle’s capacity to go after pimps and those who exploit children. Councilmember Juarez worked closely with City Attorney Evans and County Prosecuting Attorney Manion to advocate for the new position.  

“The sex trafficking of underage children is an inhumane and illegal commerce. ‘The Blade’ corridor along Aurora continues to be a high-crime area where black and brown girls are disproportionately targeted and exploited. When girls as young as fourteen are taken from their families to be sold for heinous acts, something has to be done. I applaud the leadership of City Attorney Erika Evans and King County Prosecuting Attorney Leesa Manion for taking action against these deplorable crimes. Having a unified and cross-deputized approach towards justice to keep children and families safe is the type of leadership we need in Seattle,” said Councilmember and Public Safety Committee Member Debora Juarez (District 5). 

"I want to thank City Attorney Evans and Councilmember Juarez for their dedicated work in establishing these new prosecutor positions," said Councilmember and Public Safety Committee Chair Bob Kettle (District 7), who chairs the Council’s Public Safety Committee. "Since taking office in 2024, this Council has taken actions to advance public safety on multiple fronts, from delivering stronger legal tools to deepening our partnership with King County. The brazen gun violence and sex trafficking impacting our neighborhoods are completely unacceptable. Today's development is a strategic, meaningful step toward delivering the safety and accountability our community deserves."   

This enhanced ability to target those who manipulate and abuse people and children — who are disproportionately women of color, young people experiencing poverty, and youth from foster care systems — will help Seattle crack down on the sexual exploitation that has been rampant for decades along the Aurora Corridor. SPD detectives have also reported that multiple children are being recovered from Aurora each week.  

“As I warned the world in May, anybody who comes to Seattle thinking they can turn out children or buy sex along Aurora and not face consequences is badly mistaken. Our police will arrest you and you will be prosecuted,” Evans said.  

Building cases against human traffickers that meet the high burden of proof required by state law takes several months of police investigative resources, and adequate funding for those investigators is also essential. Because of that high proof burden, over the past five years there have been an average of 6 cases each year with sufficient evidence to file charges in Seattle. But regardless of the challenges, police and prosecutors will work together to go after pimps, child exploiters, and those who pay to sexually abuse children.    

“I am glad to see Seattle prioritize tackling gun violence and human trafficking,” said Congresswoman Pramila Jayapal. Everyone deserves to feel safe in our City, and I hope that these two new positions will be major strides forward in ensuring resources, funding, and time are all directed to that goal. As a Member of the Judiciary Committee in Congress, I have long supported expanding the use of ERPOs nationwide to protect our communities from gun violence.” 

New Solutions for Disarming Dangerous Individuals

The second new position is an Extreme Risk Protection Order (ERPO) prosecutor, a role that will lead SCAO’s newly organized Firearms Unit. That internal unit will in turn collaborate with KCPAO and the Regional Domestic Violence Firearms Enforcement Unit which has worked since 2018 to ensure court orders to surrender firearms are actually enforced.  

“Every neighbor deserves to feel safe — walking home, raising their kids, building a life in this city,” Mayor Katie Wilson said. “I prioritized funding these two new prosecutor positions in my proposed budget, despite a major general fund shortfall that forced tough decisions and tradeoffs. It’s important that we can act faster when someone is in danger and hold accountable those who prey on our most vulnerable neighbors. This is what it looks like when we take public safety seriously: not just words, but people on the ground doing the work.” 

ERPOs are a tool that County prosecutors have used for years as a part of the King County Regional Domestic Violence Firearms Enforcement Unit in partnership with the City Attorney’s Office.   

ERPOs can be used in situations where law enforcement or community flags a specific concern about someone who presents a risk of harm to themselves or others and has potential access to firearms. ERPOs operate within civil court systems without requiring an attached criminal charge. Attorneys try to persuade a judge to issue an ERPO based on evidence that they are likely to harm themselves or others if allowed to keep their guns.   

"Washington's successful implementation of Extreme Risk Protection Orders, which we passed on the ballot statewide in 2016, has provided a leading national model for states across the country,” said Ryan Disch-Guzman, Interim Executive Director of the Alliance for Gun Responsibility. “The city's ongoing commitment to finding innovative and successful ways to use this proven tool continues to set an example for how Extreme Risk Protection Orders can be used to reduce gun violence and save lives." 

This new position will allow the City to expand the use of ERPOs in partnership with SPD. ERPOs are not an alternative to criminal firearms charges; however, they provide an additional tool to take more guns from the hands of people who pose a threat.   

“The Seattle Police Department is grateful for this well-thought-out multi-department partnership,” said Seattle Police Department Interim Chief Andre Sayles. “Taking guns off the streets and arresting the violent criminals who traffic and exploit our most vulnerable has long been a key focus for our officers and detectives. Creating these two new prosecutor positions will elevate the already intense focus on these types of crimes, resulting in greater public safety and holding criminals accountable in a court of law.” 

“As a resident along Aurora, I know how urgently our community needs effective action against sex trafficking and gun violence,” said Peter Orr. “Restoring safety here requires a broad set of tools, and creating these new specialized positions within the City Attorney's Office to target these crimes appeals to me as an immediate and inexpensive investment worth its day in court." 

After Evans and her team proposed the new ERPO prosecutor position this spring, Mayor Wilson inserted funding for it into her midyear supplemental budget, which was approved by City Council. Both the ERPO prosecutor and the cross-deputized human trafficking prosecutor are funded fully in Mayor Wilson’s proposed full-year 2027 budget, and multiple Councilmembers have assured SCAO they intend to deliver those enhanced resources in the final budget.  

“These new prosecutor positions are a meaningful investment in addressing gun violence and human trafficking. We thank City Attorney Erika Evans and the many individuals working every day to keep Seattle safe, and we look forward to building on this progress together,” said Seattle Metro Chamber President & CEO Joe Nguyễn. “Our recent polling found that 86% of Seattle voters support a public safety plan with measurable goals, showing strong support for continued action.” 

“I’m grateful to Councilmember Juarez, Councilmember Kettle, Mayor Wilson, and the hardworking individuals across our city who’ve acted to ensure these vital new tools can be brought to bear swiftly,” City Attorney Evans said. “I’m proud to show our community that our City Attorney, our Mayor, King County, SPD, and our City Council can work together to make good things happen on some of our city’s most pressing public safety challenges. Putting resources behind this sends a clear message that we will go after pimps, child exploiters, those who pay to abuse children, and the guns fueling this violence.” 

View the job posting for the cross-deputized sex trafficking prosecutor position here. 

View the job posting for the ERPO prosecutor position here.