Unless Governor Mike Parson changes the Missouri Public Defender System’s next budget, the office is well on its way to achieving the largest increase in staff since about 1989. Director Mary Fox announced to Missourinet that 53 new public defenders would be hired nationwide.
Photo by Alisa Nelson
“That will make a big difference in terms of our representation. Each office will be staffed enough so that if a person applies for public defense services and is deemed appropriate and the applicant is penniless, we have a lawyer to take that case and represent that person immediately. says fox.
No one is currently on the waiting list in prison waiting for services, according to Fox.
Parson’s proposed state budget for the next fiscal year included a recommendation for additional public defenders. The Missouri Legislature passed a budget this year with 53 new lawyers. The next state budget starts on July 1st.
The office, which has been understaffed and overwhelmed for years, could then end its waiting list for services and set it up in accordance with the law. A Missouri court has ruled that putting people on a waiting list to receive public defense services is against state and federal law.
At the end of May, around 1,000 cases were on the waiting list. When Fox started the Public Defender System in January 2020, there were around 5,800 cases.
“At the rate at which the waiting list was growing, it looked like it was growing to nearly 7,000 cases,” says Fox.
Then COVID-19 hit – slowing the judicial system and slightly reducing the number of incoming cases. Fox says her office also has funds to have private lawyers deal with some of these cases. During this time, the office has been able to reduce the number of cases.
The system has already conducted interviews at several Missouri law schools and law school trade shows to recruit law graduates.
“We’d like to begin preparing the proposal as soon as the governor has signed the bill,” says Fox. “The other thing, when I ask the law students or the newer attorneys in the offices what brought you to the public defender system, or what interests you in the public defender system, they always mention the experience. Any attorney who works for the Public Defender System will be in the courtroom almost from day one. They will have their own clients very soon after joining our office. The experience they gain representing the clients they are responsible for and representing them in courtrooms across the state of Missouri is experience that will do them well whether they choose to stick with the Public Defender System and make it a career, or open a private practice, or go to another type of law firm. “
Fox believes there will be enough interest to fill all of these positions in a timely manner. The new attorneys serve 31 of the state’s 33 litigation firms, which cover 113 counties.
“Some of them cover up to 11 different counties, others only cover one county. But I think most of them are in areas where lawyers are available and we will be able to recruit these lawyers to come to us, ”she says.
The only offices not getting additional attorneys are in St. Louis and Kansas City because Fox says they have been better staffed in the past and the number of charges filed there has declined over the years.
“I’m not saying they couldn’t benefit from having more lawyers. Both offices handle a significant number of serious cases and these cases take a long time to prepare and litigate. What we saw is that while these municipal or urban offices had trained staff, the rural or field offices did not have that many additional staff. We wanted to make up for this difference, ”she says.
The workload in the state of Missouri has increased significantly over the years, according to Fox.
“I think you can attribute this increase to the introduction of methamphetamine in Missouri. That started adding cases to our office for both possession and manufacture of methamphetamine. It has also created cases – the property crimes often associated with the use of these drugs. That happened in the late 1990s and early 2000s, ”says Fox. “During these years the workforce in the public defender system was not increased. We are therefore trying to compensate for the staff shortage from this time in order to be able to adequately represent our clients. “
Fox hopes the additional attorneys will result in a drop in public defender turnover rates by around 12 to 15 percent.
“When you are in control of someone’s life, whether they lose their civil rights or not, whether they go to prison, that is a great responsibility. So it’s a very stressful job. But when you’re doing that for a limited number of people, rather than dumping an endless number of cases on your lap, it’s an easier task, “says Fox.
She says that in some cases the state will save money by using in-house lawyers rather than contracting out with private lawyers. When you factor in a government employee’s salary and performance versus a private attorney, Fox says that’s a saving of about $ 200 per case.
Fox says the work to reduce the case load on the Public Defender System over the years has been an effort by the Missouri Legislature and Governorship. She cites pay increases for public defenders, and two years ago a team of specialist lawyers was formed to represent children in criminal matters in juvenile courts.
“So this is kind of the icing on the cake for all of the earlier things that lawmakers provided for us. Hopefully it will bring us to a point where we in the public defender system don’t want to talk about the overloading of the cases, but about the good work that the public defenders do every day for those who come into question for our representation, ”says Fuchs.
Public defender’s salary and benefits include:
* The starting salary is approximately $ 47,000
* Possible attractive salary increases
*Goverment aid
* Student loan waiver after ten years of service
* The legal training required by the rules of the Supreme Court would be free of charge for the employee.
* Missouri bar fees are paid
* According to the state budget passed by the legislature, most state employees would also receive a 2% raise from next January. The public defenders would qualify for this raise.
To hear the full interview, click below.
Copyright © 2021 Missourinet
source https://collegeeducationnewsllc.com/audio-missouri-public-defender-system-prepares-for-largest-staffing-increase-since-1989/
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