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Thursday, July 03, 2008
Ind. Courts - St. Joseph Prosecutor Dvorak claims his attorneys aren't receiving comparable pay to public defenders
Pablo Ros reports today in the South Bend Tribune in a lengthy sstory - some quotes:
For most in St. Joseph County's criminal justice system, it has been everything it promised to be.A reimbursement program with the Indiana Public Defender Commission that began a year ago has funneled dollars back to county coffers while helping to strengthen the county's public defender office.
But to St. Joseph County Prosecutor Michael Dvorak, the program, which helped raise the salaries of public defenders while reducing their caseloads, has confirmed the fears he expressed last year that unless the county helped him raise the salaries of his own deputies it would create disparity.
Dvorak claims three deputy prosecutors have left his office this year because those jobs have lost competitiveness in the "attorney market." * * *
The county can expect to receive about $100,000 in excess funds from the state, according to Circuit Judge Michael Gotsch, who advises the public defender board.
The reimbursement program, which was approved by the County Council in June 2007, was supposed to give back to the county up to 40 percent of its eligible public defender expenses while helping to reduce the caseloads of overworked public defenders.
According to figures from the Indiana Public Defender Commission, it has pretty much fulfilled its promises. * * *
John Marnocha, chief judge of St. Joseph Superior Court, said things are running "a lot more efficiently" in the courtroom since the state reimbursement program took effect.
"It's helped us deal with the caseload we have," he said.
With attorneys being less "booked up" and he no longer having to fight everyone's calendar, Marnocha said, cases are being resolved in a more timely way.
Posted by Marcia Oddi on July 3, 2008 11:03 AM
Posted to Indiana Courts