Mohave County indigent defense officials ask board for staff and rate increases amid rising caseloads

Mohave County indigent defense leaders asked the Board of Supervisors on April 21 to expand staff and raise contractor pay to address growing caseloads and state-mandated duties.

Blake Schroeder, director of Indigent Defense Services (IDS), summarized the county's assigned-defense process and said statewide caseload guidelines recommend no more than 150 felonies or 400 misdemeanors per attorney and only 200 juvenile cases per attorney. He said IDS oversees assignments to the Public Defender's Office (PDO), Legal Defender Office (LDO) and the Legal Advocate Office (LAO) and manages contracts for private conflict counsel and Title 36 mental-health evaluations.

John Gillenwater, Mohave County public defender, told the board PDO staff have fallen from 20 attorneys in 2010 to 12 today while felony filings remain high. Gillenwater said the PDO needs six additional attorneys, one investigator and three support staff—an estimated $1.2 million in salary-and-benefit cost—to meet caseload guidelines.

Ron Gillio, Mohave County legal defender (secondary defense office), said his office covers the same range of courts as the public defender but with fewer attorneys. He described frequent travel to multiple court locations, a reactive workload that varies dramatically with case types, and staffing churn; he said additional judges, deputies or prosecutors would increase court activity and create more staffing needs for defenders.

Bobby Shin, legal advocate for juvenile matters, said the LAO handles juvenile delinquencies, dependency and Title 8/36 matters and faces growing travel and investigatory obligations after changes to juvenile rules that require in-person contact in clients' places of residence before substantive hearings. He requested conversion of an open office-supervisor slot to an investigator plus two additional investigators, a paralegal and an additional office specialist to maintain compliance and meet travel demands.

Schroeder framed two specific IDS budget requests for FY2026: restore one FTE dedicated to casework (estimated $68,000) and raise flat assignment rates for contract counsel (he proposed increasing felony flat rates to $1,000 and misdemeanor flat rates to $500). Schroeder said Mohave County has not increased contract rates in 15 years and that bringing rates nearer the statewide averages would cost roughly $100,000 per year based on current volumes.

During Q&A supervisors pressed for totals and funding options. Supervisor Don Martin cited other large departmental requests already in the tentative budget and noted the board would need to consider funding priorities; Schroeder gave a rough aggregate of about $3 million for combined criminal-justice requests raised that day but cautioned the figure was a quick estimate. County staff and the board discussed potential trade-offs and timing in the FY2026 budget process.

The presentation did not include a board vote; supervisors thanked presenters and signaled the staffing and rate requests will be considered during budget deliberations.

Ending: County defenders said Mohave is operating below guideline staffing levels in multiple defense offices and that their requests include new attorneys, investigators, support staff and higher contract rates. The board asked staff to evaluate funding options within the FY2026 process.