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 for the public defender told the committee that funding for the eligibility increase had been allocated in the governor’s proposal but that the authorized position count was not updated. ‘‘We were given funding to increase that threshold to 250%. That included funding for about 40 positions. We were never increased our authorized position count by 40,’’ said Steve, identified in testimony as the agency’s financial director. He said the position count would need to be increased if the legislature restores the funding.

On interpreter staffing, witnesses said the governor’s budget proposes to fund 13 interpreter positions by reallocating a projected surplus in the assigned-counsel account but then also cuts that same surplus by roughly $1 million, producing a wash unless the legislature acts differently. The agency said the reallocation in the governor’s proposal is about $805,000 to shift assigned-counsel funds into personal services for interpreters.

‘‘The reallocation is a wash,’’ the chief said. ‘‘Reallocating it to cover this creates a wash, then reducing it by the amount also — it just washes out at the end of the thing.’’

The assigned-counsel director, Alex Walmsley, told the committee the current paid rates are $88 per hour for misdemeanor, general child protection and juvenile delinquency matters and $102 per hour for felonies, appeals and similar matters. The office is requesting a phased increase to $120 and $135 per hour over three years. The office’s submission estimated the total cost of the rate increase at $10,711,434 (calculated prior to the interpreter reallocation), and included per‑year appropriation figures for implementation over the plan period.

Walmsley described a multi-year decline in assigned-counsel assignments after 2019 and a contemporaneous surplus in the assigned-counsel account that the agency used to propose funding the interpreter positions. He said the number of available private attorneys on the assigned list remains below historical levels and that the current hourly rates complicate recruiting and retention.

Representatives on the committee pressed for more detail on a pending bill, Bill 7121, which would exclude veterans' federal service‑connected disability benefits from income calculations for defender eligibility. The agency said it is not opposed in principle but has not tracked the number of veterans it serves and cannot yet quantify staffing impacts from the bill.

Attorney Cimino, introduced as the agency’s juvenile director, described a pilot plan to add social-worker positions to assist assigned counsel with required child‑welfare visits and document collection after an Office of the Child Advocate report identified shortfalls in minimum visit rates. The office said it has already placed two social workers in a pilot area to begin addressing that issue.

Committee members asked the agency to provide follow-up data: (1) assignments by year and metrics on delays, (2) a breakdown of the $10.7 million estimate and annual appropriation totals for the rate increases, and (3) clarifying documentation on the interpreter reallocation and the assigned-counsel surplus calculation. The agency said it would supply the requested material.

The hearing recorded discussion and questions but no formal committee votes on the requests.

The public defender testimony will be available to subcommittee staff for follow-up as the budget process continues.