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Public defenders press Loudoun supervisors to fund supplements, interpreters, investigators and mitigation staff
Summary
Staff from the Loudoun County Public Defender's Office and former public defenders urged the Board of Supervisors to expand funding and staffing — including supplements, additional attorneys, investigators, interpreters, a discovery specialist and mitigation staff — to maintain services and retain employees.
A string of public defenders, investigators and support staff told the Loudoun County Board of Supervisors that the public defender's office needs more resources in the FY2026 budget to retain staff and provide constitutionally required defense services.
Speakers described staffing shortfalls across titles and asked the board to continue and increase supplements and to add non-attorney positions. Aashi Marotra, who said she is a public defender in Loudoun County, asked supervisors to "raise supplements and allocate additional resources to fund additional staffing positions."
Investigators described mounting discovery workloads and limited interpreter access. John Manson, an investigator, told the board that discovery in some cases can exceed "over 25,000 documents" and said a discovery specialist would help organize material so investigators and attorneys can focus on core work. Adam Poulliard, also with the public defender's office, said court interpretation access was currently limited to two hours on weekdays and that limitation affects representation at the jail and in major cases.
Mitigation staff told the board about their caseloads and time demands. Kelly Williams, the office's mitigation specialist, said she had been the sole mitigation specialist for the office for 16 years and supports 12 attorneys; she asked for additional mitigation positions so attorneys could receive mitigation work as needed.
Other speakers described how limited pay and promotion pathways contributed to turnover. Ellie Shaheen and Carolyn Cook, both assistant public defenders, said supplements were the reason they had been able to remain in their roles and urged the board to continue and increase them to retain attorneys.
Why it matters: Speakers framed the requests as necessary to meet legal obligations, to retain experienced staff and to ensure that clients — including people with behavioral-health needs, juveniles and veterans — receive appropriate defenses and services.
What was not decided: This was a public comment session; the board did not take votes during the hearing.
