Work of Public Defender Rises by Record 20%

The public defender’s office, which represents defendants unable to afford a private attorney, handled nearly 50,000 new cases in the fiscal year ending July 1, a record increase of nearly 20% over the previous year.

The office’s annual report stated that the number of felony cases to which a judge appointed a lawyer from the public defender’s office increased 49.8%. Misdemeanor case appointments were up 16%, juvenile cases up 5.6% and mental health and civil contempt appointments increased 13.4%.

“The protracted and complex nature of homicides, especially capital cases, continues to heavily tax the resources allocated to the department,” the report said.

The public defender’s office calculated the average cost per case at nearly $210.

Caseload Increases

The average caseload per attorney in the office is 496, which the report said was “extraordinarily high due to the unprecedented caseload increase of 19.6% during the fiscal year.”

The previous record increase came in the 1980-81 fiscal year, when new cases jumped 16.2% over the previous fiscal year.

Last year the Board of Supervisors approved a $9-million budget for the office and allotted an equal amount for appointment of private attorneys when the public defender cannot handle a case.

The bulk of the payments to private attorneys are for cases other than homicides, but a separate report released Thursday by the county administrative office stated that although the supervisors set aside $7.1 million, the actual expense is expected to be $5.9 million.

Average Cost Declines

“The average cost per adult case is lower in (the current fiscal year) than it was in (the previous fiscal year) due to implementation, utilization and better management of contracts,” the second report stated.

No figures were given for payments to private lawyers defending people accused of homicide, but the report said costs were being kept under control by the expansion last year of a panel of between 16 and 45 lawyers who agreed to handle the cases at lower fees than were previously charged.