Public defender system improving

From The State (SC):

State officials hope to have a new public defender system in place in all of South Carolina by July 1.

A law last year did away with the 39 nonprofit organizations that provided legal representation to the poor in South Carolina courts.

The state Administrative Office of the Courts says more than 80 percent of the 126,000 cases heard last year involved defendants unable to afford an attorney.

Nine people already have been appointed to fill the new public defender positions and seven more are expected to be named by July 1. All 16 judicial circuits will then have a state employee running public defender operations.

The new jobs are similar in pay and benefits with prosecutors.

Private attorneys representing poor defendants will be paid $50 an hour, $10 more than they received under the old system.

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