State funding still a concern for Public Defender

GAINESVILLE - The Northeastern Judicial Circuit Public Defender Supervisory Committee, meeting in Gainesville Friday morning, remains concerned about state funding.

Chairman Doug Stewart said the state legislature is not fully appropriating Public Defender funding, set up under state law. The Public Defender system only gets part of that money because there is no constitutional amendment mandate for it. According to Stewart counties could reduce their share of Public Defender cost with a full appropriation and he'll be pushing for that amendment next year.

"The counties now are funding fully 40 percent, the state is funding about 60 percent but the U.S. Constitution as interpreted by the Supreme Court says it is a state responsibility to fund effective indigent defense, not a county responsibility," Stewart said.

Under the state law passed in 2003 revenue from add on fees to fines, forfeitures and civil filings was supposed to be dedicated to the Public Defender program to make it self sufficient.

"What has happened is the money has come in but has not been 100 percent devoted to public defender work," Stewart said. "Only a certain percentage of it has gone to public defender work, the rest of it has gone into the general budget to help other state programs."

MANDATORY PRISON COST

Circuit Public Defender Brad Morris told committee members that case levels are up but his office remains under budget.

"Our office is able to provide better representation at a much less rate," Morris said. "Overall ours is $450 for the county's part of paying for indigent defense as opposed to what it was before at $1,000 a case, so the price has gone down as far as overall representation of citizens accused who can't afford council."

Morris said what is increasing costs are required mandatory sentences with lengthy prison terms and no parole.

"There's a fairness issue with that but also a real economic issue," Morris said. "If a person spends 30 years in jail that's a lot of money and with no parole people are serving sentences day per day and that's a huge economic factor not only for Hall County but state wide and the citizens pay for all that."

Morris said in many cases prison is more expensive than parole and defendants learn things behind bars that make them worse not better.

"After they go through the penitentiary experience the likelihood of them being a worse citizen when they come out is much greater." Morris said. "Things they learn there are not helpful."