Public Defender and Alternate Defender press for more trial attorneys, social workers and paralegals as filings rise

Los Angeles County’s public defender Ricardo García and Alternate Public Defender Erica Swarkey told the Board of Supervisors on Feb. 21 that both offices need additional experienced trial attorneys, psychiatric social workers and legal support staff to meet rising caseload complexity and statutory requirements.

Ricardo García, public defender, said the office requests 10 additional felony trial deputy public defenders, 18 psychiatric social workers (including two supervisors) and 16 paralegals, plus IT and accounting support. He told the board that the public defender’s workload is changing because of legislation and local prosecutorial policy shifts — including renewed capital filing and sentencing enhancements — and that these changes increase the number of complex trials and post‑conviction matters requiring experienced counsel.

García emphasized that social workers are essential under current practice to conduct mental‑health, substance‑use and trauma assessments and to prepare mitigation plans for court; he said social‑work services cannot be delegated in full to external agencies because of confidentiality and attorney‑client privilege concerns. He also said the office has reduced dependency on NCC from 95% to 86% through other revenue but still relies heavily on county funding; a pilot post‑conviction relief program funded by the state will sunset in 2025‑26 and would need replacement funding.

Alternate Public Defender Erica Swarkey described extraordinary pressures on conflict‑case counsel — her office reported about 340 pending murder charges and said many felony trial attorneys are carrying three or more homicide cases in addition to a general caseload. Swarkey asked for four additional senior attorneys for violent case work, a Neurocognitive Disorder Team (attorney + psychiatric social worker) to identify diversion opportunities for defendants with cognitive disabilities, and a dedicated Racial Justice Act attorney to handle the rising number of RJA motions (pretrial and post‑conviction filings have grown substantially).

Supervisors asked about vacancies, the ability to recruit experienced staff, and existing funding for care‑court representation; the defenders said promotional timing and grant schedules affected vacancy counts and that hiring pipelines, internships and internal training help recruit new attorneys. Both offices warned that without more senior trial counsel and support staff, case backlogs and risk of ineffective‑assistance claims could rise.