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Public defender urges permanent investigator to curb caseload stress and meet ethical duties
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Summary
The Coconino County Public Defender asked supervisors to fund a full‑time investigator, saying current staff levels force attorneys to perform investigation or leave work undone; the director said the investigator request is the office's top priority given rising trials and media‑heavy evidence.
Jennifer Stock, director of the Coconino County Public Defender's Office, told the Board the office is facing rising caseload pressure, heavier evidence loads (body‑cam and other media) and a growing number of jury trials — and urged the county to fund a permanent investigator rather than a short extension.
Stock explained why an independent investigator is not optional for effective defense: attorneys cannot ethically perform investigative duties that would put them in the role of a witness, so investigators perform skip‑tracing, witness interviews, jail‑call review and scene documentation. “I need a full time investigator. Six months doesn't do it for me,” she told the Board (Jennifer Stock).
Her office highlighted the media burden: cases that once required 30–60 minutes of review now routinely produce multiple hours of video, seven body cams in a single case and evidence that multiplies attorney review time. She said jury trials and increased filings compound workload and the office relies on a mix of in‑house staff, interns and contracted counsel to manage spikes. Stock noted salary savings from recent retirements could cover a large portion of the requested attorney/investigator cost, but argued the investigator is the more urgent need to preserve attorney time and to avoid possible ethical exposure.
Public defender staff and board members discussed diversion and specialty courts as part of a prevention and case‑reduction strategy, but Stock cautioned that many felony cases driving the backlog are not diversion candidates. She asked supervisors to consider the investigator as priority funding for FY27 and to weigh the systemwide impacts: underresourced defense representation affects case outcomes and court fairness.
What happens next: Finance and management discussed options (6‑month continuation was recommended by staff for one role); supervisors signaled interest in further discussion and asked for additional budget clarification and potential white‑board policy discussion about system‑wide investments in justice functions.
Provenance: Stock's presentation and Q&A with supervisors (requests and reasoning appear throughout the transcript).
