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Saturday, November 28, 2009
Ind. Courts - Public defenders are threatened with cuts in several Indiana counties
"Clark budget cuts threaten public defender's office" is the headline of this Nov. 27 story by Ben Zion Hershberg in the Louisville Courier Journal. Some quotes:
A 30 percent budget cut ordered by the Clark County Council for next year could leave the public defender’s office with only half of its part-time lawyers."Lake public defenders are newest budget casualties" is the headline to this Nov. 26 story by Ruth Ann Krause in the Gary Post-Tribune. Some quotes:“Nothing like this has happened before,” said Jeff Stonebraker, the county’s chief public defender. Budget problems in earlier years “have not even been close” to next year’s expectations, he said.
Clark Circuit Judge Dan Moore, in a memorandum to the council on Nov. 4, said too few public defenders could create serious delays that might lead to crowding at the county jail or even violate state or federal requirements for timely court action.
But Dave Abbott, president of the County Council, said, “Our hands are tied.” * * *
Stonebraker and two administrative assistants make up his office’s full-time staff, and the bulk of cases are handled by 10 lawyers who have private practices but work part-time for the public defender, earning from $23,000 to $31,870 a year.
A 30 percent budget cut ordered by the Clark County Council for next year could leave the public defender’s office with only half of its part-time lawyers.
“Nothing like this has happened before,” said Jeff Stonebraker, the county’s chief public defender. Budget problems in earlier years “have not even been close” to next year’s expectations, he said.
Clark Circuit Judge Dan Moore, in a memorandum to the council on Nov. 4, said too few public defenders could create serious delays that might lead to crowding at the county jail or even violate state or federal requirements for timely court action.
But Dave Abbott, president of the County Council, said, “Our hands are tied.”
State finance officials told the county that its 2010 budget approved this fall would exceed tax revenue by up to $6 million, Abbott said Friday.
Since the cuts were ordered last month, the heads of other county departments have said they’ll lay off at least 13 employees by Jan. 1 and eliminate at least eight other vacant positions. The county government has more than 300 employees.
Dan Eggerman, a consultant hired by county Auditor Keith Groth to analyze the budget problem, said in an Oct. 19 report that a large part of next year’s shortfall is rooted in the council’s 2007 decision to cut allowed 2008 property tax collections by 25 percent, a reduction that has forced officials since then spend down rainy day funds and other revenue sources.
A decision to eliminate a bridge replacement tax also hurt revenue, Eggerman said.
Stonebraker said other parts of the county’s judicial system won’t be affected by the cuts as much as the public defender’s office because it depends more heavily on general fund revenue to stay afloat than the courts or the prosecutor’s office, which get some money from probation fees and grants.
Stonebraker and two administrative assistants make up his office’s full-time staff, and the bulk of cases are handled by 10 lawyers who have private practices but work part-time for the public defender, earning from $23,000 to $31,870 a year.
“I have not been able to formulate a satisfactory plan which allows us to function effectively after implementation of the budget cut,” Stonebraker said in a report to the council. He said five part-time lawyers won’t be able to handle the caseload, but the only alternative to cutting the other five is to keep the office operating as it is until the money runs out around August and then close.
Abbott described the latter option as a threat and said he’ll ignore it. He said the council won’t give the public defender more money at this time even if Stonebraker decides to hold on to his current staff.
Abbott said he believes the county is doing more financially to defend accused criminals than victims. It’s possible, he said, that some suspects who now get public defenders by saying they’re indigent can be required to pay at least part of the cost of their lawyers.
Much like Judge Moore, Superior Court Judge Joseph Weber said he’s concerned about possible delays in handling court cases. But Weber said he doesn’t expect the courts to lose employees because of the budget cuts because they can use accumulated probation fees to pay staff.
Weber added, however, that probation fees will largely be gone by 2011.
Budget cuts have forced the elimination of seven positions in the Lake County public defender's office.See also several related stories from the past week -- "Vanderburgh County Public Defenders caseload climbing" from Nov. 23rd and "Hammond Legal aid clinic sees a surge in demand," also from Nov. 23.With the office handling about 70 percent of the 1,900 criminal cases filed annually, the cuts may mean the office will have to refuse new cases, Chief Public Defender David Schneider said Wednesday.
Three trial attorneys, John Davis, Kelly White Gibson and Catherine Lake, appellate public defender Paul Stanko, investigator Mike Brown and two secretaries will no longer have positions at the end of the year.
To close an estimated budget shortfall of $17 million in 2010, the Lake County Council this fall issued a mandate that each county department would reduce its payroll by 10 percent. All told, more than 100 employees stand to lose their jobs by year's end.
When the new year begins, the county public defenders office will have 17 trial attorneys, five appellate public defenders, and 15 contract attorneys working out of the conflicts division. Five contract attorney positions were eliminated. The conflicts attorneys represent individuals who are charged in multiple-defendant cases.
Lake, who has more than eight years with the office and 10 years' experience previously with the Lake County prosecutor's office, said she was not given a reason last week when she was told she was fired. Gibson and Davis, however, said they understood the cuts were a result of the Lake County Council's need to trim the budget. All three attorneys also maintain private practices.
Schneider said there have been numerous meetings in recent weeks as the office and the council grappled with where to make cuts.
The office currently is representing four defendants in time-consuming and complicated life-without-parole cases and more could be coming.
Diane Poulton, spokeswoman for Prosecutor Bernard Carter, said no decision has been made on whether life-without-parole sentencing requests will be filed on: * * *
Schneider said the entire public defender staff agreed to a 10-percent pay cut in an effort to retain all the positions. Last year, the office generated $1.4 million and cost taxpayers $1.1 million.
Gibson, who has six years with the office, who like Davis and Lake maintains a private practice, said she was told there was no seniority grid in the office. "I wasn't given a reason why I was chosen," she said, but indicated she was grateful for the opportunity to serve.
Davis, who has been with the office for about five years, plus three or four years as a contract attorney, said: "Afterwards we were told they (council) wanted bodies."
Posted by Marcia Oddi on November 28, 2009 10:39 AM
Posted to Indiana Courts