By Danielle Smith, Keystone State News Connection
More than 60 Pennsylvania counties do not have enough public defenders for their caseloads, forcing some, including in Erie County, to each handle more than 400 cases a year.
A report by the Quattrone Center at the University of Pennsylvania said the state needs more than 1,200 full-time public defenders but has about 850.
Sara Jacobson, executive director of the Public Defender Association of Pennsylvania, said the state was one of only two providing no funding for public defense, but $7.5 million was allocated in the last two state budgets. Jacobson acknowledged it has helped, although spread across 67 counties, it is not enough to make a real change in places like Erie County.
“Erie got in 2023-2024 a little over $102,000. The second appropriation: $106,723,” Jacobson pointed out. “The problem is that when you add the cost of an attorney’s salary and benefits, the money that’s there is not enough when it gets divided up.”
The report found Erie County would need 28 full-time attorneys to handle the large caseload, but currently has nine full-time and eight part-time attorneys. At a recent news conference, Clinton County Commissioner Jeff Snyder said the state’s allocation of funding for indigent defense would have to double, to $15 million a year, to handle the growing need.
Jacobson noted that heavy caseloads cause delays, both for public defenders and clients. She added prior to the pandemic, Erie County had top public defender pay, but now, some attorneys are leaving for better-paying work in the Erie conflict office.
“Conflict Counsel in Erie County gets paid more and has a far lower caseload,” Jacobson explained. “Every time someone leaves, their 400 or however many cases have to be distributed among the other lawyers. So those caseloads go up, and the service to those clients goes down because of it.”
Jacobson cited a Vanderbilt Law School study, which found that each exoneration for a wrongful conviction costs a state $6.1 million. With at least 140 exonerations, it adds up to $856 million in costs for Pennsylvania.
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Source: bctv