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Kansas public-defender system asks for higher starting pay and more positions
Summary
Anne Sagan, executive director of the Kansas Board of Indigent Defense Services, told the Senate Judiciary Committee BIDS needs higher starting pay (proposed $80,000) to recruit attorneys, highlighted reliance on private counsel paid $120/hour, and said capital-case costs were about $7.2 million in FY25 while the agency closed roughly 8,503 trial cases.
Anne Sagan, executive director of the Kansas Board of Indigent Defense Services (BIDS), told the Senate Judiciary Committee on Jan. 26 that the agency faces persistent staffing and funding shortfalls that limit its ability to provide timely counsel in felony cases statewide.
Sagan said BIDS provides public-defender offices, an assigned-counsel panel, appellate and capital-defense services, and that in fiscal year 2025 BIDS closed about 8,503 trial-level cases.…
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