Sunday, May 02, 1999
Ky. can't keep public defenders
Panel considers ways to cut turnover
BY SUSAN VELA
The Cincinnati Enquirer
John Delaney loved the work when he joined Kenton County's public defender office, but he had a difficult time accepting the low pay and heavy caseload.
Four years into the job, his law school debt and low wages — starting pay for full-time public defenders in Kentucky is $23,388 — spurred him to try his luck in private practice.
It's a phenomenon that is seen throughout the state: Each year, public defenders leave the Kentucky Department of Public Advocacy at a rate of 14 percent. Roughly 52 percent of Kentucky's public defenders have been with the state system less than three years.
Public defenders represent those who have been accused of crimes but are unable to hire their own attorney. There are 170 full-time and 90 part-time public defenders in Kentucky.
Mr. Delaney is in the minority — he stayed with Kentucky's public defender system longer than three years before venturing elsewhere and, after a year of private practice, returned to the fold.
“I'm not blind to the fact that really the best thing is an increase in salaries (and) reduction in caseload,” said Mr. Delaney, who handles several hundred felony cases a year but returned to public defender work because he missed the fulfillment it provides.
His call for higher salaries and lower caseloads is in sync with a new group that began meeting this year to brainstorm how to retain and attract public defenders, who are well-known for working long hours for paltry pay.
Between July 1, 1997, and June 30, 1998, Kentucky's public defenders represented 101,210 clients. Covington's eight-attorney office represented 3,386 clients. An average of $133.96 was spent on each Kenton County case.
The task force of about 20 attorneys, legislators, law professors and judges and justices from throughout the state is working with a Massachusetts-based consulting firm, the Spangenberg Group, which is expected to present its recommendations to Gov. Paul Patton and the 2000 General Assembly.
“When you have 12 to 14 percent leaving every year, you know that you have a real problem retaining folks,” said Ernie Lewis, head of the state public advocacy department.
One of the suggestions discussed has been an infusion of $11.7 million into the state public defender system.
“There needs to be more defenders and also adequate pay,” said Covington attorney Robert W. Carran, a Blue Ribbon Group member and the former director of public defender systems in Boone, Kenton and Gallatin counties.
But he wonders whether legislators will understand that need in light of the public's tendency to call for more prisons and police officers vs. an improved public defender system.
Most people, Mr. Carran said, aren't concerned about the pay and caseload of public defenders until one of their friends or relatives is charged with a criminal offense and must rely on the state system for help.
“It's absolutely startling how that simple occurrence can increase the appreciation of how important the Constitution is (and) how important it is to have a level field,” he said.
Kentucky's starting pay is lower than in Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Missouri, Tennessee, Virginia and West Virginia. Staff attorneys in Kentucky handle an annual average of 480 cases, which involve charges from drunken-driving offenses to capital murder.
Mr. Carran is especially worried about the time-taxing, complex work involved in death penalty cases and the fact that public defenders must tackle them while keeping up with their normal caseload. He would like the state system to get enough money to consider specialized, capital defense teams for certain geographical areas.
Right now, all 39 people on Kentucky's death row are being represented by public defenders. Fred Furnish, 31, of Covington, is standing trial now on a capital murder charge in Kenton Circuit Court. The trial began last week. He is being represented by three public defenders, who have said they are not prepared for the proceedings.
“Capital defense work is so different and so demanding,” Mr. Carran said. “That's always been the sys tem's Achilles' heel.”
Don Stepner, a Northern Kentucky attorney and president-elect of the Kentucky Bar Association, also has been attending the Blue Ribbon Group gatherings. He believes that legislators in the group, including state Rep. Kathy Stein, D-Lexington, and state Sen. David Williams, R-Burkesville, are getting the point.
“What they're realizing is that there's a problem in funding and a hard time keeping personnel in a lot of areas because the pay is so low,” Mr. Stepner said. “I hope that the legislature can see the problem and the dedication that the public advocates have for doing the job, and they can look upon the public advocates as more than a stepchild in the criminal justice system.”
The Blue Ribbon Group is to meet for the third time in late May.
The Associated Press contributed to this story
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