Oregon lawmakers have assembled a $96 million plan to tackle the state’s shortage of public defenders as hundreds of Oregonians sit in jail facing criminal charges without attorneys to represent them, reported the Oregon Capital Chronicle.
A constitutional crisis lies at the heart of the
problem: People facing criminal charges have the right to an attorney if they
cannot afford one. They also have the right to a speedy trial. Yet 326
Oregonians lack representation while in jail awaiting trial on murder charges
and other felonies because there aren’t enough public defenders to represent
them, state data shows.
To address the crisis, lawmakers have a
multi-pronged approach, which includes money to boost pay for public defenders,
hire more attorneys and allow the state to dispatch attorneys to high-need
regions. The Senate and House on Wednesday passed Senate Bill 337, which would put that plan into motion. The
Senate passed the measure with a 17-8 vote, and the House passed with a 34-16
vote, both along party lines with Republicans opposed.
The proposal now goes to Gov. Tina Kotek.
The public defender crisis in Oregon is acute: The
state has about 600 contracted full-time public defense attorneys, according to
a 2022 report by the American Bar Association. That
report found Oregon needs nearly 1,300 more.
“Oregonians deserve justice, which isn’t possible if
cases are thrown out due to lack of attorneys or defendants are forced to sit
in jail for far too long without counsel,” said Sen. Floyd Prozanski, D-Eugene,
and chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee. Prozanski led a workgroup
with input on the changes, which he called “meaningful reforms.”
But Michael Rees, a public defender for 22 years,
said he is skeptical and disappointed with the results. Rees, president of
the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Public
Defenders Local 3668, works alongside about 80 attorneys in the Metropolitan
Public Defender law firm, which serves defendants in the Portland area.
Specifically, he notes the bill was changed and
stripped out language for public defenders’ compensation to be comparable to
what prosecutors receive.
“This tells us that the state of Oregon is not
committed to indigent defense,” Rees told the Capital Chronicle. “They’re still
trying to get indigent defense for the lowest dollar that they can, and the
market has said that doesn’t work.”
The Oregon Public Defense Services Commission, a
state agency, contracts with public defense providers throughout Oregon,
including the Metropolitan Public Defender. Most attorneys who handle
trial-level cases do so through state contracts, but state employees and
attorneys do oversee appellate-level work.
The state has a patchwork of public defender
providers, including nonprofit organizations and private law firms. Public
defender organizations face high caseloads and turnover, as attorneys often
leave for more lucrative opportunities.
Public defender changes
·
The plan approved by the
Legislature would do the following:
·
Require the presiding judge in each of
Oregon’s 27 judicial districts to prepare a plan by Sept. 1 to address the
crisis of unrepresented defendants.
·
Create teams to strategically put public
defenders into court systems with the most severe need.
·
Update the model for the employment of
public defenders – including establishing a trial division within the
commission that directly hires attorneys. The trial-level division would start
initially with 17 attorneys and support staff but have a long-term mandate to
expand.
·
Increase funding for training,
compensation and contracting to help recruit and retain employees.
·
Move oversight of the state commission
from the judicial branch to the executive branch. This would make the agency
accountable to the governor rather than the chief justice of the Oregon Supreme
Court, which supporters say would increase transparency and oversight.
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