Budget Cuts Put More Pressure on Public Defenders

From maysville-online.com: In response to the General Assembly decision to cut $2.5 million in Department of Public Advocacy funding in the next fiscal year, the DPA issued a three-page announcement regarding the future of public defender availability in Kentucky.

Already seeing a steady increase in case loads since 2000, the possibility of cutting attorneys and/or staff members, and increasing case loads is not something the department is looking forward to implementing, and has an alternative plan.

"The cut in DPA’s fiscal year 2009 budget is considerable, and cannot be justified in view of the inadequacy of past DPA funding and current increases in prosecutorial, law enforcement and corrections budgets. The Public Advocate has informed the Commission of a proposed plan to cut services in a way that would make every effort to minimize the impact on the liberty interests of most DPA clients," said Robert C. Ewald, DPA Commission Chairman in the announcement. Rest of Article. . . [Mark Godsey]