Public defenders feel burdened

From the Lexington Herald-Leader:

Kentucky’s heavy caseloads for attorneys representing indigent defendants are taxing the public defense system and possibly jeopardizing clients’ access to justice, the Department of Public Advocacy’s top official said.

Public defense attorneys in Kentucky on average are juggling about 436 cases per year, according to the agency’s annual report released yesterday. Public defenders in urban areas, however, are facing even fiercer caseloads, as high as 651 in Lexington, the report found.

Still, caseloads are down from an average of 468 per attorney during the 2006 fiscal year, the report found.

The numbers reflect an agency budget crunch that has been years in the making, said Ernie Lewis, who heads the state public defender system. And it could lead to systemwide problems, Lewis said.

“My lawyers are working as hard as they can work, lots of overtime, trying to do the best they can do on individual cases,” Lewis said. “When caseloads get above the national standards, you’re risking systemic problems at that point.”

During the past seven years, there has been an increase of more than 50 percent in caseloads, the report said.

Lewis said the agency is facing a fiscal crisis; he’s already instituted a hiring freeze and has paid bills late as a way to save money. Right now, there are 60 vacancies in the agency, including slots for 30 to 40 additional attorneys.

“I’m looking at a difficult time getting through this fiscal year,” Lewis said.

Sixty-two public defenders in Louisville, Kentucky’s largest urban area, handled more than 33,400 cases during the last fiscal year that ended in June for an average of 539 cases per attorney.

While above the agency’s overall average caseload, the number reflected a drop in Louisville public defenders’ caseloads from the 2006 fiscal year when they had about 604 each, according to the report.

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