Countywide : Board Seeks Savings on Indigent Defense

In an effort to cut funds spent on defense lawyers for the poor, the Board of Supervisors on Tuesday began reviewing a list of options aimed at reducing costs associated with the county public defender’s office and court-appointed lawyers.

In a 50-page report, the county administrative office offered the board 29 recommendations on how the county can more efficiently provide defense lawyers to those unable to afford it.

Among the recommendations were putting caps on expenditures--such as the amount of money spent to defend murder cases where the prosecution is not seeking a death sentence--and using a pilot program in which the courts may select fixed-fee, court-appointed attorneys for some cases rather than using public defenders.

“This (indigent defense services) is a major expenditure for the county of Orange and the various system components must continue to harness their energies toward improving,” Supervisor Roger R. Stanton said.

Public Defender Ronald Y. Butler praised the report as extremely “professional and thorough” but emphasized the importance of keeping up the quality of legal representation.

“It’s always been my major concern that in any attempt to reduce costs in the area of indigent defense that one must always keep in mind that the quality of representation must be maintained,” Butler said.

Butler, whose office has an annual $18-million budget, said that the public defender’s office handles cases less expensively than court-appointed private lawyers.

A county-appointed committee will review the alternatives and will report back to the board in 60 days.