Public Defender Office urges restoration of funding for 250% eligibility, seeks 40 positions and interpreter staff

The Office of the Public Defender told the Appropriations Subcommittee on Feb. 13 that a change raising eligibility to 250% of the federal poverty guidelines took effect on Jan. 1, 2025, and the agency asked lawmakers to restore budget language and authorize staff positions to match newly funded hires.

The request centers on three short-term items: restoring the 250% eligibility funding the governor removed from the draft budget, increasing the agency's authorized position count by 40 to reflect staff already hired for the eligibility change, and approving a reallocation to create 13 interpreter positions. The office also repeated a separate, multi-year request to raise assigned-counsel rates from current levels to $120 and $135 per hour over three years.

‘‘The 250% eligibility change went into effect on January 1,’’ said the chief of the Office of the Public Defender (identified in testimony as Chief Day). ‘‘We brought people on board — not just attorneys, but investigators, social workers, clerical — and it would be difficult for the agency to reverse that for our budget and for the people that we serve.’’

Financial staff…