The Fiscal Committee considered a Judicial Council budget request on Nov. 21 that drew questions about public defender staffing and collections for recovered costs. A director identified in the record as Director Bucky explained the request reflected a law change that shifted a payment obligation to the Judicial Council and that this particular budget line was added late in the budget process.

Director Bucky said the public defender system is a nonprofit that lacks funding to fully staff offices and faces recruitment pressure from neighboring states that are hiring aggressively. “We’re losing attorneys…we can’t quite fill all the office spots,” the director said, and added the state has one of the lowest numbers of attorneys per capita in the region, which complicates recruiting private attorneys who take conflict cases.

Committee members asked whether the office recovers costs from people who have been defended once they gain employment; the director said the office that previously handled cost containment and collections was abolished at the end of the last fiscal year because recovery efforts did not cover administrative costs. The item was moved and adopted by voice vote.

Members also asked agencies to reference the enabling legislation when requests reflect legislative changes so the committee can track the costs tied to those laws.