State wants defenders to stop refusing cases

From the Lexington Herald-Leader (KY):

The state finance cabinet is asking for an injunction to block public defenders from withdrawing from cases.

The Department of Public Advocacy began withdrawing from certain types of cases July 1 because of budget cuts. It has sued the state and leaders in the legislature for more funding, saying they have not allocated enough money to fulfill the state’s constitutional mandate to provide lawyers for poor criminal defendants.

By DPA’s own estimates, it has enough money to last through February or March 2009 before running out. Lawyers for the Finance & Administration Cabinet and State Treasurer Todd Hollenbach IV say that gives the legislature or courts five to six months to address the issues raised in the lawsuit.

But Public Advocate Ernie Lewis said it would be irresponsible for the agency to spend money until it goes broke. The public and General Assembly would not stand for that, he said.

”I am trying to manage our way out of a severe budget crisis,“ said Lewis, who noted that Kentucky has one of the lowest-funded public defender systems in the nation.

The executive branch requested the injunction in a response it filed to DPA’s lawsuit on Wednesday.

The answer alleges that:

Public defenders inflate their caseloads by double-counting some cases. DPA, for example, counts cases that move from district to circuit court as two cases. It counts persistent felony offender charges as separate cases.

The agency inefficiently allocates its lawyers and resources. The finance cabinet said attorneys in DPA’s Frankfort office handled, on average, 359 cases each last year, while Lexington lawyers had an average caseload of 654. The cabinet also noted that the agency prints a bimonthly magazine and a newsletter, which the cabinet viewed as unnecessary.

Public defenders do not ask for defendants to pay partial fees to help offset the costs of the agency. Under the law, defendants who can afford to contribute to their defense are required to pay a fee, which is set by the judge and is typically a few hundred dollars. Outside of Fayette County, most counties historically have collected very little in these fees.

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