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Indigent Defense commission and solicitors urge grants, staffing to speed case processing; commission seeks $2.98M
Summary
The Indigent Defense Commission and solicitors told the Senate Finance Committee that funding for additional public defenders, investigators and a grant program to implement a three‑team case-processing model can sharply reduce backlogs and speed case outcomes; the commission requested $2.98 million in recurring funds and proposed a $5.6 million
Hugh Ryan, director of the South Carolina Indigent Defense Commission, told the Senate Finance Committee that the commission is asking for $2,980,000 in general funds to expand staff and retain public defenders and related support personnel, and that the commission supports a grant program to help circuits adopt a three‑tier case-management model solicitors say has reduced backlogs in pilot areas.
Ryan described the commission’s DefenderData system, a 17‑year-old platform the commission pays approximately $174,000 a year to license and which the commission uses to report caseloads, warrants and other operational data. He said that the commission’s data can already show county- and circuit-level workloads and that the commission is willing to work with judicial-branch IT modernization efforts where integration is possible.
The $2.98 million recurring…
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