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Public defenders warn of major attorney shortfall after caseload weighting study
Summary
The District Public Defenders Conference presented a weighted‑caseload analysis showing the system is substantially understaffed — one district’s 13 attorneys would need 32 by the study’s weights — and urged the legislature to fund more defenders, investigators and social workers.
Patrick Froeg, executive director of the Tennessee District Public Defenders Conference, told lawmakers that the public defender system is predominantly personnel‑driven (about 91% of the budget) and that workload pressures remain acute. Using national case‑weighting benchmarks translated to Tennessee caseload data, Froeg said one 4‑county judicial district currently served by 13 attorneys would require 32 under weighted assumptions.
Froeg said a conservative, practitioner‑informed exercise produced an estimate that the public‑defender system is roughly 144 lawyers short of a minimally acceptable staffing level statewide; the conference requested additional assistant public defenders, investigators, secretaries and social workers targeted to high‑need jurisdictions. The office also highlighted technology needs — evidence storage and transcription automation — and warned that eliminating modest salary‑equity reserves would reduce operational flexibility.
