Defender General outlines staffing, caseload and budget pressures as FY26 request emphasizes maintenance of current services

Defender General Matthew, accompanied by financial director Katrina Lumbra, told the House Appropriations Committee that the Defender General—s Office (DGO) is constitutionally required to provide public defense and is seeking a FY26 budget that preserves current staffing, contracts and services.

The presentation centered on why the office asked mainly for a current-service-level budget rather than new programs, and on cost pressures that are outpacing modest increases.

The DGO director said the office represents more than 90% of criminal defendants who have counsel, and nearly all juvenile respondents. He described a separate prisoners— rights unit that investigates deaths and conditions of confinement and said that unit—s statutory investigative authority allows it to obtain records without subpoenas. "The DG's office is constitutionally mandated," he said, adding that the prisoners— rights work is "very important" but a smaller portion of the caseload.

Why it matters: the office is juggling rapid post-pandemic caseload growth, rising vendor and expert rates, and statewide shortages of criminal lawyers. Those pressures affect how much of the office—s requested increases must be directed to contracted counsel, travel and other personal services the office cannot defer.

Key budget and operational points

- Governor—s recommendation: The governor—s recommended budget largely provides current-service funding, including salary rollouts, contract increases for primary public defense offices and support for the office—s case-management subscription costs. The Defender General said the governor—s budget was about $117,000 short of what the office asked for.

- Assigned counsel increase: The Defender General requested a 4% increase for assigned counsel (conflict/assigned counsel); the governor recommended 2%. He described the difference as modest in the context of a roughly $28 million-plus overall budget but said small percentages matter for recruiting and retention.

- Other personal services and vendor rates: The office reported sharp increases in rates for mental-health evaluations and mitigation services since the COVID period, with some hourly rates rising from roughly $200—$250 to about $600 per hour. Those costs are covered in part by the proposed budget increase.

- Caseload and backlog: The office described a post-pandemic rollout of cases that produced spikes: a high of about 19,000 backlog cases at one point and about 14,000 cases later in the year. Fiscal 2024 saw a roughly 7% increase in cases; the first quarter of fiscal 2025 rose another 6%. The Defender General gave county-level variation, saying smaller counties made progress while the largest counties lost ground. He warned the backlog issue is multi-year, not a short-term problem.

- Probation violations and other drivers: Probation violations rose nearly 60% year-over-year, and misdemeanors and other frequent charges (DUI, license-related matters, retail theft) are the principal caseload drivers that create sustained pressure on resources.

- Recruitment and staffing shortages: The office is facing a sustained shortage of lawyers, particularly in rural counties. The Defender General said recruitment has been difficult: where previously dozens of candidates applied for openings, recent recruitments produced few or no applicants, forcing outreach beyond New England. He said new hires are increasingly mid-career and command higher salaries, which affects budget planning.

- Contracts vs. staff offices: Primary public defense contracts typically save about 30% compared with establishing a staff office (largely because private contractors can mix public and private work). The Defender General said he is negotiating contracts that span four years, aligned with his term.

- Orleans County and Addison County issues: A long-standing primary contractor in Orleans County gave notice last year; the DGO was still negotiating several proposals and said he expected to decide on a replacement within a week of his testimony. He said that if no contractor is found the state would need to establish a staff office at an estimated additional annual cost of about $87,500 (amount given by the presenter). In Addison County the landlord is selling the building and the DGO must relocate; the new rent will be about $20,000 per year higher with one-time upfit costs estimated at roughly $30,000.

- IT and storage: The DGO chose to build and manage its own redundant server storage to hold large audio/video discovery rather than adopt a vendor—s cloud subscription that he estimated would cost roughly $1.2—$1.3 million per year; the in-house approach is expected to save more than $500,000 annually. The office said it needs an additional storage tier, estimated at about $30,000, not included in the governor—s recommendation.

- Training and special fund shortfalls: The presenter said statutorily required in-person training funding was removed during the pandemic and has not been restored; he asked for the training line to be returned. He also described the public defender special fund as having $5.98 million in spending authority on paper but only about $350,000 actually collected and available, a structural mismatch the office raises each year.

Committee questions and next steps

Committee members asked about the importance of the prisoners— rights investigations (the Defender General said they remain important) and about recruiting methods (the office uses job boards, bar association postings and national public defender networks and has been conducting press outreach). The Defender General said he would continue negotiating contract renewals and expected to finalize the Orleans County decision soon. He said the administration appeared likely to hold to the governor—s recommended budget and ask the DGO to prioritize within that recommendation.

Ending

The presentation concluded with the Defender General repeating that most of the FY26 request was to maintain existing services and contracts, noting the continued pressure from increased caseload, market-rate rises for other personal services, and a shortage of available attorneys in rural Vermont.