Subcommittee backs raises for entry-level public defenders, smaller-than-requested boosts for expert witnesses and IT needs

The General Government Subcommittee of Ways and Means voted to send a set of budget recommendations to the full committee after debating several additions to the indigent defense budget.

Chair opened the discussion by saying the budget is tight and proposed raising the Public Defender 1 starting salary "from the current level of 62,500 to 80,000." He said there are about 45 PD1 positions and about 40 PD2 positions and estimated the immediate cost "around $1,100,000," while acknowledging agency materials put a higher figure at $1,700,000 to avoid salary compression.

Miss Pratt, staff, told the committee the agency described "$1,100,000 is in the agency's words the bare minimum that would allow the public defender's p d ones to reach the $80,000." She said the $1.7 million figure would also raise some current PD1 incumbents who started above $62,500 to similar levels to avoid compression with PD2 positions.

After members raised concerns about pay compression and recruiting, the chair proposed recommendation language that set the goal of a PD1 starting salary of $80,000 while placing a maximum appropriation "not to exceed $1,300,000." The committee adopted that recommendation "without objection."

The subcommittee also approved a small, partial-year service add of $17,974 for FY2026 to secure a Verizon cell-phone service contract so staff and counsel would not use personal phones for official business, and it approved a full-year FY2027 service amount of $107,844; Miss Pratt said the near-term figure would primarily cover service fees. Both items were added to the committee recommendation by unanimous consent.

On reappropriations, the chair proposed repurposing unspent capital defense funds so they would be available for assigned counsel. Staff and the chair reconciled their calculations of the 1.5% lapse and related figures; the committee agreed to reappropriate approximately $54,428 from capital-defense reappropriations for assigned counsel and included that in the recommendation.

On expert witnesses, the agency had requested $3,300,000 and the governor's recommendation was $2,000,000; after debate the chair proposed $1,000,000 as the senate position for FY2027 and the committee approved that amount. Members warned that expert testimony is costly and that underfunding could produce downstream expense, but the chair noted he aimed to balance needs against available resources.

Finally, the subcommittee recommended allowing the department to implement an Office 365 solution at an added cost of $106,976 for FY2026 and the same amount for FY2027 and approved $15,000 in each year for server replacements. Miss Pratt confirmed the Office 365 cost was expected to be ongoing through FY2027. Those items were also adopted without objection.

The committee clerk summarized the additions — PD1/PD2 salary adjustments (goal PD1=$80,000, not to exceed $1.3M), cell-phone service ($17,974 FY26; $107,844 FY27), $54,428 reappropriation to assigned counsel, $1,000,000 for expert witness caseloads FY27, Office 365 ($106,976 FY26 and FY27), and $15,000 in each year for server replacements — and the chair said the package would be reported to the full Ways and Means Committee.

"It's amazing to me that anyone who has a law degree working in the judicial system would work for that salary," the chair said when arguing for the PD1 increase. Miss Pratt said she would include detailed notes for the chair's report to Ways and Means.

The subcommittee adjourned after the committee recommendations were set to be forwarded to the full Ways and Means Committee.