Lawmakers in Oregon have reached an agreement on a plan to spend $12.8 million towards funding portions of the state’s public defense system amid a statewide shortage of public defenders.
Governor Kate Brown and lawmakers introduced the plan to fund the Office of Public Defense Services, an independent state agency that’s part of the Oregon Judicial Department. The funding approved by lawmakers would allow for 36 full-time public defense attorneys and staff.
A January 2022 report issued by the American Bar Association (ABA) concluded that Oregon only has 31 percent of public representation needed. The study found that at least 1,296 more full-time public defense attorneys would be required to meet the need to provide representation for those who can’t afford it throughout the state.
The study analyzed all new public defense cases filed from Jan. 1, 2017 through March 31, 2021. Additionally, the study analyzed Adult Criminal data for all case types except for Probation Violation data from April 1, 2021 through Oct. 10, 2021.
As of Dec. 31, 2020, based on the total number of active pending adult criminal and juvenile cases, 23.6 percent and 58.4 percent of those cases were over 12 months old. The ABA study also determined that less than 4 percent of cases in Oregon proceed to trial.
It concluded that Oregon public defense attorneys under contract with the state are at risk of violating Oregon Rules of Professional Responsibility because of their excessive caseloads.
By: Jennifer Williams
Do you have a story for The Advocate? Email editor@corvallisadvocate.com