Report on Public Defender Costs

February 14, 2012

1Report on Public Defender Costs 02/14/12

County required to provide indigent criminal defense.

Public Defender requirements established in Government Code.

34 of 58 counties employ a Public Defender.

All counties over 400,000 population have a Public Defender, except for San Mateo County (Private Defender Program).

Provision of Services

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Private attorneys contracted for conflict-of-interest, multiple defendant cases; some larger counties have “Alternate Defender” office for first-level conflicts.

San Joaquin County – Public Defender is primary defender; conflict appointments assigned through contract with Lawyer Referral Service (LRS).

Public Defender also handles non-criminal responsibilities.

Provision of Services (continued)

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Direct cost comparison between Public Defender and private attorneys is difficult due to variations in:

- Compensation methods- Workload- Individual time tracking/production data

Use LRS data to estimate private attorney costs.

Two comparisons:- Individual Attorney Hourly Cost- Average Cost per Assigned Case

Methodology

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Public Defender work assignments vary by individual.

Typical staff attorney cost: $110-122/hour.

LRS amended contract rates typically $75-105/hour.

LRS attorneys gave up rate increases since 2009; if implemented, fees generally $83-116/hour.

Some Public Defender functions not listed in LRS rate schedule.

Hourly Cost

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2006/07 2007/08 2008/09 2009/10 2010/11$0

$2,000,000

$4,000,000

$6,000,000

$8,000,000

$10,000,000

$12,000,000

$14,000,000

$10,893,530

$13,078,313

$11,345,011

$3,374,777

$4,869,825

Total Expenditures

Public Defender Lawyer Referral Service

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2006/07 2007/08 2008/09 2009/10 2010/11 -

5,000

10,000

15,000

20,000

25,000

30,000

35,000

29,653

19,080

9,877

3,217 2,068

5,559

Assigned Cases

Public Defender Lawyer Referral Service

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2006/07 2007/08 2008/09 2009/10 2010/11$0

$500

$1,000

$1,500

$2,000

$2,500

$367.37

$685.45

$1,148.63

$1,049.04

$2,106.00

$876.03

Average Cost per Case

Public Defender Lawyer Referral Service

No determination made on whether Public Defender’s Office or LRS provides significantly better service to clients.

Most individuals contacted by staff during research felt both agencies provide adequate legal representation.

Performance

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Unknown if sufficient capacity exists to replace Public Defender’s staff and absorb workload.

Any reorganizational changes would impact court operations—transition coordination essential.

Employee impacts, legal and legislative issues should be reviewed prior to initiation of changes.

Other Considerations

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Individual attorney hourly rate: Current LRS rate is less than Public Defender for most case types…

…however, pending discussions with employee organizations and/or future conflict defense contract costs may affect hourly rates.

Average cost per case: Public Defender’s Office average cost was less than LRS through 2009-10…

…but this changed in 2010-11. It is not known if this will continue as case assignments and possible decreases in case filings may have an impact.

Summary

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Staff will continue to monitor workload and costs.

Request for Proposals will be issued for conflict and overflow indigent defense counsel services (current contract expires in June 2012).

Next Steps

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