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Public defender warns of heavy caseloads and staffing shortfall; cites RAND workload benchmarks
Summary
El Dorado County's chief public defender told supervisors the office is operating at roughly 18% of recommended staffing levels under a national workload study, with rising specialty caseloads — conservatorships, contempt and mental-health diversion — and potential additional burden from Proposition 36 and Care Court.
El Dorado County Chief Public Defender Terry briefed the Board of Supervisors Feb. 5 about mounting workloads and staffing challenges in the public defender’s office, citing national workload research and county-specific pressures.
Terry said the office currently has about 30.5 full-time equivalents and that, using national workload assumptions (2080 available attorney hours per year and estimated hours per case), a typical felony or misdemeanor attorney’s expected caseload is much lower than current assignments. She summarized the RAND Corporation national…
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