Public Defenders Hope for Reprieve; Senate Offers $2.3 Million to Lighten Load

    April 17, 2007
    Columbia Daily Tribune
    By The Associated Press


    JEFFERSON CITY (AP) - Missouri public defenders are eager to see whether lawmakers grant some relief from a heavy workload.

    Senate budget writers agreed to provide about $2.3 million for the public defender system to hire private lawyers for some of their cases, enough to cover about 3,000 in the next year.

    Cathy Kelly, deputy director of the public defender system, said yesterday that’s about one-fourth of the money the system needs to ease the burden. Public defenders handle nearly 90,000 cases a year. "It’s going to be dependent on the funding. It’s the funds that have to go with it that makes the difference," she said.

    The House did not provide the money to contract out with private lawyers for lesser cases, and lawmakers must reconcile the two chambers’ budget plans by mid-May.

    But the Senate also gave initial approval to legislation yesterday that should help some. The measure eliminates the use of public defenders for parole violations unless they could lead to further charges.

    Kelly said that will provide some relief, but the system doesn’t track the different types of probation violations now, so it’s unclear how big a dent that will make. The system handled about 19,000 probation violations last year, she said.

    But the measure doesn’t go nearly as far as the original bill, which would have redirected some court fees to a separate fund to hire private attorneys to handle most misdemeanors, bad-check cases and probation violations.

    Misdemeanor cases make up about one-third of cases the public defender system handles.

    "We’re appreciative of any and all help that we get, but we’re still on life support," Kelly said.

    Some lawmakers said they’d like to do more. For example, they called for offering to forgive student loans for lawyers who work as public defenders or allowing defenders to meet with their clients via a secure video feed, rather than traveling hours for a quick meeting.



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