State's way of paying public defenders debated

Currently, there’s no uniform statewide system, but generally, public defenders are paid by counties for their work, while county prosecutors and judges have their salaries paid by the state. Larry Landis of the state Public Defender Council said the system creates a second-class justice system for people who need public defenders.

“They’ve abdicated their state responsibility,” Landis said in an Associated Press story. “You’re talking about a constitutionally mandated service where people’s liberties are on the line.”

Indiana has a program in place where counties can qualify to have 40 percent of the money they spend on public defenders reimbursed by the state. To qualify for this rebate, the county has to reach certain requirements, such as making sure public defenders have sufficient experience and education to defend indigent clients. Counties are tested for this certification every quarter.

In the last budget, the state set aside $14.8 million to cover public defender costs, and Landis said only 48 counties have set up the local commissions required to receive any of the money. Madison County is one of those counties, and Madison Circuit Court 4 Judge David Happe said the county has never been found out of compliance since the program’s inception.

“I think the system works well,” Happe said. “And I think Madison County is much luckier than some others. We have some very experienced and very good public defenders. In some counties like Marion County, they have high turnover and it can be hard to retain that experience.”

Happe spent more than two years as a public defender before becoming a judge and he said the experience was positive and edifying. Like most public defenders, Happe maintained a private practice while he worked on his public defender caseload.

“I really enjoyed it. You can spend enough time on cases to get some expertise, and most clients, if you invest time, they’re appreciative of the assistance they’ll get,” Happe said.

Landis argues that the 40 percent reimbursement doesn’t represent a fair balance, and that counties that don’t qualify won’t prioritize funding for poor people who are accused of crimes.

Local attorney and public defender Bryan Williams said he would agree with making the system uniform if there was a physical public defender office in each county. That’s not the way it is, though, said Williams, who has practiced criminal law for 20 years. And he thinks there’s no doubt Madison County residents with public defenders have their constitutional rights well represented.

“Some of the attorneys in this county with the most criminal law experience are public defenders. In a lot of counties, you get people who are right out of law school. You have to get experience somewhere, but that can lead to appeal issues later,” Williams said.

Madison Circuit Court 3 Judge Thomas Newman, who went to law school with Landis, said the system works well and taxpayers will end up paying for public defenders either way.

“I can’t speak for other counties, but we have some of the best public defenders in the state,” Newman said. “I have four in my court, and I’m blessed because they’re all good, they’re all experienced. When they are, they can move cases through a lot quicker and that keeps jail numbers down.”

House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Tim Brown (R-Crawfordsville) told The Associated Press on Tuesday he’s open to the idea of the state paying public defenders if it can gain broad government support.

But Senate Appropriations Committee Chairman Luke Kenley (R-Noblesville) said the state simply doesn’t have the money to do it, and he’s satisfied with the current arrangement.

“We do pay a share of that now and the counties pay a share of that,” Kenley said in the Associated Press story. “This way they have an incentive to keep the cost under control.”

The lack of state salaries is felt on both sides of the courtroom. Other than the elected prosecutor and his chief deputy, the other county prosecutors also are paid by their counties. Low pay leads to high turnover and a lack of experienced attorneys on both sides, said Landis and the executive director of the Indiana Prosecuting Attorneys Council, David Powell.

“Certainly the pay’s too low,” Powell said in the AP story. “You ought to be able to make a career of that and pay your bills and raise your family.”

Aaron Negangard, prosecutor of Dearborn and Ohio counties in southeastern Indiana, said he doesn’t believe it’s fair for public defenders to get the same pay as prosecutors. He said they don’t carry the caseloads that prosecutors do and that the burden of proof is on the state, not the defense.

“I’m satisfied with the system the way it is,” said Negangard, who heads the prosecuting attorneys’ lobbying group. “I think the state reimbursement program works well. It keeps the control in the county.”

The Associated Press contributed to this story.