Why the Public Defender's Office can't take all the felony cases City Hall is forcing on us - 48 hills

"These numbers are from the Superior Court's own dashboard, which tracks the data. Because a conflict of interest is created when a public defender's excessive caseload forces them to choose between the rights of various indigent defendants they are representing, the office, although continuing to take the majority of new arraignments, began declaring it was unavailable in some, necessitating the appointment of private attorneys in those cases."

"While the most recent city budget did not expressly cut positions in the Public Defender's Office, it did require attrition goals (also known as salary savings) of $2.8 million, meaning we would have to leave 17 felony attorney positions vacant, for the entire year, to meet these targets, thus exacerbating the staffing shortage. Mayor Daniel Lurie has prioritized addressing crime and the cleanliness of city streets, which is certainly his prerogative. However, there are downstream consequences to increasing prosecutions."

"Our district attorney certainly is empowered to decide what new cases to charge, and what plea bargains her office approves to settle a matter without a trial. But if accused persons reject those pleas and want a jury trial, again, there are financial and staffing consequences. City Hall seems to know this: Last year, city leaders approved $92 million for police overtime."

A judge ordered the public defender to accept appointments in all felony arraignments at the Hall of Justice. In May 2025 the Public Defender's Office informed the presiding judge that it could not comply because active pending felony cases increased 55 percent and misdemeanors increased 78 percent, according to the Superior Court dashboard. Excessive caseloads created conflicts of interest, causing the office to declare unavailability in some arraignments and prompting appointment of private attorneys. City budget attrition goals of $2.8 million would leave 17 felony attorney positions vacant for a year, worsening staffing shortages. City leaders approved $92 million for police overtime while the office received no new felony attorney positions despite national workload recommendations.

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