Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Legal Services topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Public Defender urges modest staffing increases to reduce risk and jail costs
Summary
Public Defender Brian Morris told the board his office faces excessive workloads and requested converting a time‑limited attorney to permanent and extending a removal‑defense position, citing a department caseload of roughly 6,000–7,000 cases a year and national workload studies showing acute understaffing.
Public Defender Brian Morris and Administrative Services Officer Jeremy Scannell told the board that the office is meeting statutory duties under strain and seeking modest, targeted hiring actions to stabilize representation.
Morris summarized the office's workload and cited the RAND workload study methodology applied locally: "Our misdemeanor attorneys... would need to work about 6,000 hours a year to provide competent service," he said, using the study to illustrate that current staffing is insufficient. He estimated the department handles roughly 6,000–7,000 cases per year.
Why it matters: Public defense is a constitutionally mandated county service. Morris warned that insufficient staffing raises the risk of ineffective‑assistance claims, longer jail stays while defendants await counsel, and recruiting/retention costs when attorneys burn out.
The Office asked the board to either convert a grant/time‑limited attorney into a permanent position or extend the time‑limited role for one year; it also requested another year of funding for a removal‑defense attorney who has represented 23 clients in federal immigration proceedings. Morris emphasized the requests were limited in scale compared with other departmental asks but argued they reduce exposure to larger legal and fiscal risks.
Board members asked for more granular workload and time‑use data; the county budget office said staff are working with the Public Defender to provide a case‑level workload analysis before final budget adoption.
What's next: The public defender and county analyst will refine workload data and return with cost and caseload specifics for the board's June budget deliberations.
