Public defenders could start turning away cases
From Ozarks First.com (MO):
District defenders all around the state are getting ready to make a change that will impact many Missouri courtrooms.Sphere: Related ContentStarting October 1, people who can’t afford an attorney will find legal council hard to come by. Nearly every office in the Missouri Public Defender System is operating at over capacity, but a new caseload rule issued by the Public Defender Commission hopes to change that.
“As the population grows, the number of criminal cases grows. Very often, most of the people charged with a crime are indignant and fall under the people we would be representing. And without additional funding each and every year, it gets harder and harder to do the job we’re asked to do,” said Rod Hackathorn, District 31 defender.
The new rule allows public defenders to turn away cases, if an office exceeds its maximum caseload six months in a row.
“Those that have a case that we would be turning away, we’re not exactly sure what is going to happen because this is pretty new, only two offices have been doing this and they just started turning away cases at the beginning of this month,” said Hackathorn.
1 comment
i am one of the recipients of this public defender shortfall. facing serious crimes that carry lengthy terms of incarceration, i was informed that, because i made bail, i must now find my own attorney. note, my bail was paid in part by a relative, of which the remainder is to be paid by myself at 500 dollars per month, for approximately 14 months.
the kicker is, if i don’t secure a private attorney, i have been informed by my public defender that i will face bond revocation at an indigency hearing, so that i will definitely qualify for public defender assistance. of which the original poster of partial bond is then responsible to pay the remaining balance of bond moneys owed.
hmmm. so much for the constitutional rights of accused!
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