Three more public defender offices close

Three additional Missouri public defender offices - among them the Lebanon and Ava Public Defender offices - reached maximum case limits before the end of last month, causing denial of excess cases.

The Lebanon Public Defender Office, which serves Morgan, Camden and Laclede counties, reached capacity Oct. 18 and closed up shop the remainder of the month to more cases, according to a news release from the state public defender's office.

The Ava Defender Office, which serves Wright, Douglas and Ozark counties, stopped accepting cases Oct. 22.

"Lawyers are being forced to triage their cases, to pick and choose which cases and clients get full representation and which get drive-through service," Cat Kelly, deputy director of the state defender system, said in the release. "The lawyers and the clients are in an impossible situation and something had to give."

The Liberty Public Defender Office - which serves Clay, Platte and Clinton counties - also closed early, on Oct. 27, the release said.

The Springfield Public Defender Office began turning cases away in July. The Troy Defender Office, which serves Lincoln and Pike counties, was second to close, the release said.

The newest defender office closings brings the total up to five offices, affecting 32 of the state's counties.  

Other public defender offices - in Kirksville, Maryville, Hannibal, Columbia, Harrisonville, Jefferson City, Clayton and Rolla - have come close to case overload, according to the release.

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