Documents released in DUI arrest of Benton County public defense office director
The attorney in charge of the public defense attorney office for Benton County has been charged with driving drunk in West Richland.
Keith L. Johnson, the top administrator in Franklin County for seven years, was arrested on March 1 and booked into the Benton County jail for DUI.
He was released about six hours later on $1,000 bail, according to jail records.
He has returned to work as the head of Benton County’s Office of Public Defense, a job he started at the beginning of the year.
The office is responsible for assigning attorneys to people charged with crimes who can’t afford them in Benton County Superior and District courts. The administrator position salary is $216,000 annually.
West Richland’s city Prosecutor Michael Rio told the Tri-City Herald on Monday that Johnson is charged with DUI.
The case is being handled by the city’s Municipal Court prosecutor, which is separate from the Benton County Prosecutor’s Office.
Documents released Tuesday by West Richland police said Officer Ryan Warren saw a white Chevy Silverado cross the center line on Keene Road, brake and change speed for no apparent reason about 9:30 p.m. on Saturday, March 1.
Johnson, who was driving, pulled over into a parking lot when Warren signaled him to stop.
Initially he told Warren that he hadn’t been drinking but had taken a sleeping pill but he didn’t believe that was affecting his driving.
When he was asked for his vehicle registration and insurance, he appeared confused and handed Warren the wrong document, said the citation.
Johnson agreed when asked to take some field sobriety tests. Warren said Johnson was off-balance, swayed back and forth and allegedly smelled of alcohol during the tests.
Johnson then allegedly told Warren he had drunk three “Brandies” earlier, according to the citation.
Warren arrested him for DUI and took him to the Benton County jail, where Johnson took a breathalyzer test.
Johnson provided two samples, which were each tested using two different methods. The results ranged from 0.128 percent to 0.136 percent, according to the citation. The legal limit in Washington is 0.08 percent.
Johnson and his attorney Brian Roach declined to make any statements about his arrest.
7 years in Franklin County
Johnson, an attorney and accountant, has a law degree from the University of Denver and is a certified public accountant in Idaho. He served as the director of the state Department of Administration in Idaho before taking a job with the software company Oracle.
Franklin County commissioners hired him in 2015 to be the county’s administrator. However, his relationship soured with the commissioners after changes on the board.
After two attempts to fire him, Johnson left the county in 2022 to take a city manager job in the community of Chickasha, OK. He was the top administrator for the city of 17,000 just outside Oklahoma City.
He returned to the Tri-Cities about two-years later to take the job with the Benton County Office of Public Defense.
He replaced attorney Larry Zeigler, the former defense office manager in Franklin County, after Zeigler stepped down because of new Washington state requirements concerning public defense workloads.
Both counties are continuing to wait for the state Supreme Court to make a decision about the new rules that many counties fear could devastate their budgets.
So far this year, Benton County’s department has not appeared to have the same shortage of attorneys that was plaguing it in 2024.
This story was originally published March 11, 2025 at 5:00 AM.