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State public defender highlights volatile funding, seeks $2M building supplement and statutory "warrants" for stable support
Summary
State Public Defender Ramey Starnes told the Senate Finance Committee the office is recommending $48.8 million for FY2026, described reorganization under Act 22 (2024 SS2), and pressed for a reliable funding structure and a $2 million supplemental for a district building fund not included in the governor's executive budget.
Ramey Starnes, Louisiana state public defender, told the Senate Finance Committee that the office’s FY2026 executive request is $48,800,000 and described changes enacted in Act 22 of the 2024 second special session that moved authority from the old Louisiana Public Defender Board to the Office of the State Public Defender.
Starnes said the office now has an auditor and a compliance unit charged with improving monthly and annual reporting by district defenders and that accurate data are needed to support policy changes and funding requests. “We need a criminal justice system we could pay for and a reliable, renewable funding source,” Starnes told the committee.
Why it matters: most public defender services in Louisiana are funded by statutory dedications—and those revenue streams have fluctuated. Starnes and staff warned the committee that conviction and user fees (traffic and other fees imposed at conviction) are volatile, that local funding and fee collections declined during the COVID period, and that district fund…
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