Hampton public defender asks council for $300,000 supplement to retain attorneys

Public Defender Matthew Johnson asked Hampton City Council to consider a $300,000 supplement to the local public defender's office to ease recruitment and retention pressures and reduce turnover among early-career attorneys. Johnson said most local criminal defendants (about 75% in Hampton) are represented by his office and described staffing strains stemming from comparable offices in neighboring jurisdictions that supplement salaries.

"What I'm asking you to consider is a 3,000 $300,000 supplement to our office," Johnson said, explaining that supplements would allow the office to raise starting pay, retain mid-level attorneys and increase support-staff compensation. He noted the office is currently down about four practicing attorneys because several hires are conditional pending bar passage; Johnson described high travel demands when clients are held in other localities such as Suffolk and Petersburg and argued supplements would help close the pay gap that drives departures to other jurisdictions.

Councilmembers raised questions about oversight, memorandums of understanding that other cities use to protect independence, and the state code changes that Gov. amendments and the General Assembly have enacted to permit city supplements in a specific way. Johnson said MOUs typically treat supplemented public defenders as independent contractors for the purpose of the supplement and that the Virginia Indigent Defense Commission provides an administrative pathway for funds to flow while preserving independence.