Springfield bar helps overwhelmed public defender system

Delivering on constitutional promises of expedient trials and access to legal representation is increasingly difficult as public defenders face staggering caseloads that aren't expected to lighten anytime soon.

In the Ozarks, 42 attorneys are donating their services to help alleviate the burden through an ad hoc committee - the Volunteer Public Defender Program - formed by the Springfield Metropolitan Bar Association, along with the local public defender, prosecuting attorney and judges.

The team effort, which specifically addresses probation offenses when no other crimes have been committed, has caught the attention of Missouri Supreme Court Justice Laura Denvir Stith.

The case crunch

The Springfield public defender's office was the first to be certified as overloaded by the state's Public Defender Commission, which operates the public defender's system statewide. In fiscal 2008, 19 attorneys and seven support staff in the Springfield office - which covers Greene, Christian and Taney counties - handled 3,488 cases, according to District Defender Rod Hackathorn, who heads the Springfield office.

J. Marty Montgomery, director of the Missouri State Public Defender System, said public defenders statewide - about 360 full-time attorneys and 200 support staff - handled nearly 90,000 cases in 2008 and are expected to face roughly the same number this year, which equates to 250 cases a year per attorney.

Public defenders, who work on a salaried basis, are assigned to individuals accused of crimes when they cannot afford to pay for their own counsel. Across Missouri, public defenders have continually asked for more funding from state legislators to add attorneys and better compensate employees, in an effort to keep them from leaving for the more lucrative private sector, where fees are accrued in billable hours. The Springfield public defender's office, for example, is under a hiring freeze due to budgetary constraints.

But with the ad hoc committee, eligible probation violation cases are refused by Hackathorn's office and sent to volunteers, which helps cut public defenders' caseloads.

In her Jan. 28 State of the Judiciary address before the Missouri General Assembly, Chief Justice Stith praised Springfield's joint efforts to help the public defender's system.

"In Springfield, the bar spearheaded a cooperative effort within the local legal community ..." Stith said in her address. "The public defender's office says this is making a real difference in caseloads there. We are hoping to draw on Springfield's expertise and replicate its cooperative program elsewhere in Missouri this year."

Though he didn't cite specific numbers, Hackathorn said his office's caseload has decreased since the ad hoc committee began offering its services.

Looming crisis

The situation, according to SMBA Executive Director Crista Hogan, became more urgent in September, when the local public defender's office notified Springfield Municipal Court Presiding Judge Dan Conklin that it may have to start declining cases as early as Oct. 1.

"The bar has been aware that the public defender system is headed toward a crisis - we've known it for years," Hogan said. "But that (announcement) got us busy - we knew we had a deadline."

Attorney Brian Hamburg, of Hamburg & Lyons LLC, and one of the ad hoc committee volunteers, said he and 41 other volunteers are participating out of a sense of responsibility.

"Just like doctors are out there giving their time for free medical clinics and (accountants) give free advice at tax time, as lawyers, we don't want to have our system fail," Hamburg said. "The fabric of society includes the rights that we rely on. To not have the most basic legal defense when it's needed is just a travesty."

Temporary fix

The bar's volunteer program is intended as a stopgap measure. Hogan said its temporary status was a key selling point to bar members.

"We asked members to respond to a crisis, so the public defender's office will have time to get through its budgetary crisis and get on its feet," she said. "Members of the bar are asked to give up that which they have to sell - their services - all the time. They're trained professionals; they can't give their services away for free and expect to pay the bills."

Without more help, if public defenders reach a point where they are forced to turn down cases in general, the system will revert to how such cases were handled before the public defender system was created, according to SMBA President Wallace Squibb.

"The bar provided representation, but it was ... whoever happened to be in the building or whoever's name was remembered first," Squibb said. "There wasn't any real method to it to be sure that the people who had some knowledge, experience or willingness to participate were called."

Through the ad hoc committee, the bar and participating attorneys are able not only to help relieve some of the caseload plaguing the public defender's office, but also to help ensure that those accused of crimes are represented by attorneys who handle criminal defense cases.

Squibb added that volunteers are not the best people to be handling these types of cases in the long run.

"The public defender system is a great system of professionals in place to do the very work we're talking about," Squibb said. "To have a continued commitment of a large amount of resources from the bar is not good for the legal community, and it's not good for the indigent that need these services, either."

Hackathorn said there are two main ways that the problem could be alleviated in the long term - and neither is likely to happen soon.

"One solution, which is unlikely given the current budget problems statewide, is increased funding to hire more attorneys," Hackathorn said. "The other possibility would be to take away the possibility of jail time on certain lower-class misdemeanors, because any time a person is facing a criminal charge that doesn't include the possibility of jail time, they are not entitled to an attorney, so it would alleviate us from having to take those cases. But any solution is going to entail the legislature making some changes."

During her Jan. 28 address, Stith also pressed for additional state funding for the judicial system. State Sen. Jack Goodman, R-Mount Vernon, has proposed state legislation that would set maximum public defender caseloads and would remove the requirement for public defense in cases that have no possibility of resulting in jail time. That bill was awaiting a hearing by the full Senate at press time.

In the meantime, State PD Program Director Montgomery echoed Stith's comments about the committee's volunteer effort, calling the Springfield program "a model of cooperation."

"I hope they realize how much the local office and the statewide public defender system appreciate what the lawyers in Greene County are doing," Montgomery said. "Statewide, we'd be in a lot better shape if every local bar was like Springfield's."