Public Defender’s Office key part of criminal justice system
To the editor:
The Office of the Public Defender is the Constitutional Office responsible for providing quality legal criminal defense representation to indigent clients throughout the five counties that comprise the 20th Judicial Circuit. For a single person the threshold to qualify for PD services is $18,620 or below. Last year the Public Defender’s office defended over 52,000 cases ranging from simple misdemeanors to capital felony cases, The staff consists of 80 lawyers along with support staff, investigators, and a small administration staff circuit wide to accomplish this Herculean task.
Since 2007, the Public Defender’s budget and staff have been slashed. Seven staff positions have been eliminated legislatively and the budget has been reduced by just shy of $1,000,000 going from $9,500,000 to approximately $8,500,000 with more cuts expected in the current legislative session. The Office of the Public Defender has adopted a true private sector business model to deal with the budget cuts without sacrificing quality representation for the clients.
Vendor contracts have been renegotiated, an innovative telephone deposition system has taken the place of traditional court reporters, and legal training and certification of staff occurs in house saving travel and registration related expenses. The net result is better quality service at a much reduced cost to the taxpayer.
The Public Defender has also championed diversionary courts like drug court and mental health court because they are fiscally and morally the right course to pursue. To house a drug addict in jail averages around $65 per day equaling about $24,000 per year. Alternatively, it costs about $2,500 per year to treat an addict on an outpatient basis. These numbers are significant because defendants charged with drug offenses will eventually be released from custody to rejoin the community as our neighbors. If they are released from custody with no treatment, it is virtually certain they will reoffend further endangering our streets. When defendants are treated for their addictions through drug courts, they are required to work and live drug free for two years or be returned to custody. Not only are drug courts a cheaper alternative to jail, drug courts make our communities safer places to raise our families.
Kathy Smith
PD 20