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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 workload study and a forthcoming California workload study as reasons to reassess staffing.
Why it matters: The public defender’s office works on high-intensity specialty matters — conservatorships, family-law contempt, RFR hearings and Care Court — that are time sensitive and often require in-person client contact and rapid court appearances. Those specialty dockets have increased and aren’t shared with the DA’s office, Terry said.
Key points from the presentation: Terry said the office has absorbed many new responsibilities since 2011 realignment and has not received proportional staffing increases. She said the office handled roughly 400 conservatorship cases and an increase in contempt matters to about 45 per year, and that emergency “RFR” hearings have surged (she corrected a slide to read 92% increase in a category referenced). A new case-management system has improved reporting but has not reduced workload. Several hires have left for higher-paying jurisdictions in recent years, producing two current attorney vacancies.
On Prop 36 and specialty courts: Terry said if departments and court systems are well staffed, Prop 36 may not increase overall volumes; however, it can increase case intensity and create additional specialty calendars (treatment, petitions on violations) that increase workload for public defenders, behavioral-health staff and HHSA.
Ending: Terry asked the board to consider long-term approaches rather than immediate parity requests and noted that statewide studies aim to define reasonable caseloads. She said the office will continue to track metrics and asked for the board’s awareness in budgeting and policy choices that affect law-and-justice workloads.
