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Panel backs LFC recommendation after Public Defender outlines staffing, contract attorney needs
Summary
The House Appropriations & Finance Committee heard the New Mexico public defender's request for a roughly 13% budget increase to address attorney and support-staff vacancies and to begin paying contract attorneys hourly; the committee adopted the Legislative Finance Committee recommendation with no recorded opposition.
House Appropriations & Finance Committee members heard a presentation from the public defender's office on staffing shortages, contract-attorney pay, and plans to expand social-work and case-management capacity, then adopted the Legislative Finance Committee (LFC) funding recommendation with no opposition.
The public defender's office told the committee it handled roughly 75,000 cases statewide and uses a mix of in‑house attorneys and private contract counsel to provide representation. "We represent people in magistrate courts, in the trial courts, the state district court, and the court of appeals, and in the the state supreme court," said Ben Bauer, chief public defender for the state of New Mexico.
The LFC and the Department of Finance and Administration (DFA) presented differing budget proposals. The executive (governor's) recommendation adds about $1.3 million in general fund support compared with the LFC recommendation; most of that difference is $1.6 million in contractual services the executive earmarked for contract‑attorney recruitment and retention while LFC prioritized funding to fill vacant support positions and attorneys. Felix Chavez of the Legislative Finance Committee noted that the agency's operating budget lists 516 FTE but that funding assumptions and filled positions indicate 439 filled FTE, leaving 77 vacancies that LFC seeks to reduce.
Why it matters: Committee members repeatedly said equal access to counsel is a core public‑safety and fairness issue. Several members expressed support for boosting pay and hiring to reduce caseloads and to expand reentry‑oriented social work and case management that the public defender's office described as part of a broader strategy to reduce recidivism.
Key details and agency position Ben Bauer, chief public defender, told the committee the office is pursuing a multi‑year plan based on a workload study showing attorney hours are roughly three times current capacity and that shortfalls are most acute in rural areas where contract counsel are harder to recruit and retain. Commissioner Gina Maestas, chair of the Public Defender Commission, urged the committee to prioritize contract‑attorney funding and to transition contract counsel to hourly pay similar to other state legal contractors.
Numbers presented to the committee included: - Roughly 75,000 cases a year handled by the public defender system statewide. - Agency operating budget FTE: 516; filled FTE reported in materials: 439 (77 vacancies by that calculation). - Current attorney positions filled: 208 in‑house attorneys and about 75–80 contract attorneys (as of January 21, per the presentation). - Agency‑filed request: roughly a 13% increase over current funding (the public defender characterized the request as "a little over a 13% increase"). - Vacancy rates cited in testimony: overall 9.4% (all positions), attorney vacancy 13.9%, non‑attorney vacancy 5.1%.
Requests and committee reaction The public defender asked the committee to consider additional general‑fund support to hire attorneys and support staff, expand social-worker and case‑management capacity, and begin a transition to hourly pay for contract counsel. Vice Chair Dixon moved that the committee adopt the LFC recommendation; Representative Garrett seconded the motion. The chair called for opposition; none was raised and the motion carried.
Quotes from the hearing - "We do not represent people in conditions of confinement cases. We do have a habeas unit," Bauer said when asked about conditions‑of‑confinement litigation. - "It's critical that we have a public defender commission now that provides oversight and guidance to us," Gina Maestas said, urging attention to contract compensation.
What's next Committee members asked the public defender's office and analysts for comparative data on public defender versus district attorney salaries and for more granular caseload and performance measures. The agency indicated it has submitted a supplemental request tied to beginning a contract‑attorney hourly rate transition; staff said the LFC did not include that contractual increase while it assesses fiscal impact.
Ending note Committee members emphasized broad bipartisan support for increased investment in defense services, particularly to reduce excessive caseloads, expand rural recruitment efforts and reentry supports, and to improve pay for contract attorneys in order to strengthen accountability and representation for indigent defendants.
