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Public defenders urge restoration of $5.5 million for conflict contracts, seek pay parity
Summary
Georgia Public Defender Council asked the appropriations subcommittee to restore $5.5 million removed by the House for conflict contractors and to keep a $2 million pay-parity addition for assistant public defenders, citing heavy caseloads, attrition and statewide conflict-contract reliance.
The Georgia Public Defender Council told the appropriations subcommittee on judicial Tuesday that removing $5.5 million for conflict contractors would prevent the office from paying outside counsel who handle conflicts and would harm statewide representation. The council asked the panel to restore the $5.5 million the House removed and to adopt a $2 million addition the House placed to align assistant public defender salaries with assistant district attorney pay, effective April 1.
“Those funds pay our conflict contractors — the people who take cases when our office has a conflict,” a council representative told the…
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