Houghton County work session flags $139,634 deficit tied to Tri County Public Defenders; state grant frozen

Houghton County commissioners were told at a March 31 special work session that a $139,634 deficit in the Michigan Indigent Defense Fund is tied to payments made to the Tri County Public Defenders, and that the Michigan Indigent Defense Commission has placed the county’s grant on a "Freeze" until accounts are reconciled.

Administrator Rheault told the board she provided a handout showing invoices the county sent to the Tri County Public Defenders from Jan. 1, 2018, through March 31, 2025, and that audit findings for the period ending Sept. 30, 2023, identified the shortfall. She said she prepared and submitted a Deficit Elimination Plan to the State and that MDIC’s review expanded from an initial three-year look to a six-year analysis.

Rheault said the county did not retain local contributions in the 260 fund to cover public defender expenses but instead forwarded local and state shares directly to the Tri County Public Defenders in earlier years. "The fund was supposed to be fully funded through the State and local sources," she said, adding that because prior reports are inaccurate the county will work with MDIC to reopen FY2024 reports and correct FY2025 reporting.

The administrator told commissioners the MDIC freeze prevented submission of FY2025 reports and stopped anticipated state contributions that would have arrived in January 2025 and likely in April 2025. Rheault said there has been confusion over expense reimbursements because the county received expense-reimbursement vouchers from the Tri County Public Defenders; she reported that Tri County Public Defenders confirmed to the county that they do not have "extra funds" in their accounts.

Rheault told the board that monthly reimbursements to the Tri County Public Defenders ranged widely — she estimated between $30,000 and $70,000 in some months and none in other months — a pattern she traced to about 2020. She also gave commissioners a handout showing case counts handled by the prosecutor’s office and by the Tri County Public Defenders; the defenders handle about 65% of the cases, she said. Prosecutor Helmer provided a written response to questions raised by an absent commissioner and briefly attended the meeting to raise an Open Meetings Act concern after a Microsoft Teams outage interrupted the session.

Board members discussed next steps including contacting outside counsel. The board agreed Administrator Rheault will contact Attorney Roger Zappa, copying all commissioners and asking for an urgent reply. The Michigan State Police were noted in the discussion as conducting an investigation into the matter, according to the board’s remarks. The Tri County Public Defenders contract with Houghton County runs through Sept. 30, 2025.

The meeting included routine, unanimous voice votes approving the March 11, 2025 minutes and the meeting agenda (Ayes 3, Nays 0), and the board adjourned at 2:15 p.m.