Public defender urges county to add attorneys, mitigation staff as new law raises workload
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Summary
The DeKalb public defender described heavy caseloads and a roughly 40% turnover rate over two years, asked for four attorneys plus investigators and client advocates to comply with House Bill 582, and said grant-funded client advocates' funding expires in May.
The DeKalb County Public Defender told the Finance, Audit and Budget Committee that court workloads, digital discovery demands and a new state law are stretching the office and risking ineffective representation unless the county funds additional staff.
Public Defender Delan said state-court attorneys in her office have caseloads exceeding 500 and felony attorneys have between 100 and 300 cases. She described recent turnover — three resignations in a week and an estimated 40% turnover rate in the last two years — and said the office is struggling to recruit and retain staff because of salary and stress factors.
Delan told commissioners she requested a package of positions in her budget memo (nine attorneys, one paralegal, one investigator, a mitigation specialist and two client advocates) and asked the committee to consider at minimum a staggered approach this fiscal year to hire four attorneys, one investigator, two client advocates and one mitigation specialist. She said two client-advocate positions have been grant-funded for almost two years and that the grant runs out in May.
Delan also cited House Bill 582 — referred to in the meeting as the Georgia Survivor Justice Act — which she said went into effect in July 2025 and requires mitigation reports and deeper background work on clients; she described the law as an unfunded mandate that will increase the office's workload and require more resources to comply.
On digital discovery, Delan said video, jail calls and other footage increase hours spent per case; she said the county recently launched a program called "Digital Shield" and that all added footage creates additional discovery the defender's office must analyze.
The public defender did not present final dollar figures at the meeting but said she would provide annualized and FY-26 (10-month) cost estimates and return to committee to answer questions. Commissioners encouraged documentation and conversation with budget staff; the committee asked for a revised proposal and cost breakdown for further consideration.