State Public Defender requests supplemental and ongoing funding as agency absorbs county services

The Idaho State Public Defender’s office requested a package of one-time and ongoing appropriations to absorb county public-defense responsibilities and cover unanticipated costs after the agency began operations this year. State Public Defender Eric Fredericksen told the Joint Finance-Appropriations Committee the office needs both the cash and legislative appropriation to pay contract attorneys, experts and transcripts and to staff newly established institutional offices.

The request centers on a dedicated State Public Defense Fund created in statute and funded in part by a $39 million transfer from the tax relief fund; that transfer is described in the budget presentation as established in “section 57, 8 20 7 of Idaho code.” Christopher Lahoset, a budget and policy analyst with the Legislative Services Office, told the committee the agency seeks a $2.5 million one-time supplemental in FY25 to fully utilize that cash transfer and an additional $2.5 million ongoing in FY26 to continue doing so. Lahoset said the $39 million transfer was directed by statute and that “agencies need both cash and appropriation from the legislature to spend it.”

Nut graf: The State Public Defender was formed by recent legislation to centralize public-defense responsibilities and funding. Committee members pressed agency leaders about higher-than-expected costs after the October 1 transition, a December Idaho…