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Proposal to shift contract attorneys into public defender ranks raises hiring and fiscal questions; committee tables SB151
Summary
Sen. Dennis Lens' bill (SB151) would establish a children's bureau inside the Office of Public Defender and transition up to 21 contract positions into 17 attorney FTEs and four staff; OPD said hiring 12—— FTEs in the next biennium is more realistic and the fiscal note assumes $1.9 million. The committee tabled SB151 after executive action amid hiring and reimbursement concerns.
Senator Dennis Lens opened the hearing on Senate Bill 151, which would transition certain contract attorneys into in-house public defender positions structured as a children's bureau: two units to address parents and one to address children. Lens framed the change as a way to create consistency in handling abuse-and-neglect cases and said the fiscal note assumes 21 new FTEs with a total cost around $1.9 million.
Brett Chandelson, director of the Office of State Public Defender, described the fiscal assumptions and hiring challenges. He said the fiscal note is conservative…
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