Judge James Worton
A Bartholomew County judge says a “critical attorney shortage” has resulted in the need to take steps to maintain a sufficient number of public defenders in local courts.
Local judges are proposing that the amount paid to public defenders be raised from about $51,000 this year to $65,000 in 2025, Superior Court 1 Judge James Worton told the Bartholomew County Council Monday.
With Superior Court 2 Judge Jon Rohde at his side, Worton also requested that the current 12 public defenders in the three major courts be given the option for county health insurance for themselves and qualified family members. In addition, the judges are asking for an appropriation of about $10,000 annually to create a group plan to cover the cost of malpractice insurance for public defenders.
Worton is also advocating the reestablishment of the Bartholomew County Public Defender Board. The group would be charged with exploring the state’s reimbursement program for public defenders to see how that would benefit the county. They judge said they would also institute a study to find out whether the local courts need to hire more public defenders.
Under the reimbursement program currently used by 67 of Indiana’s 92 counties, courts can receive compensation for up to 40% of their expenses for felony public defense costs. However, the local courts must also agree to certain operational guidelines that includes not overburdening public defenders with more cases than they can handle.
“Currently, the case loads of our public defenders are in excess of what a full-time state public defenders are working,” Worton said. “(Local public defenders) are working full-time jobs, but are considered just part-time contract employees.”
Council member Mark Gorbett expressed concern that criminal defendants could become litigants filing lawsuits against the county if they believe they had received inadequate representation from their public defenders.
When a Bartholomew County Public Defender Board was last convened in 2016, members Randy Allman, Rob Kittle and Bud Herron recommended that the courts not seek the 40% state compensation, Worton said.
But the board did recommend that if judges want out of handling their own public defender program, they should appoint a chief public defender to handle such matters, he added.
“The landscape has changed drastically since then in regard to how many attorneys we have and the interest we have in public defender contracts,” Worton said.
For example, the judge said Bartholomew County used to have more than 100 attorneys, but the last estimate he has received indicates there are fewer that 40 now practicing law, with only a handful handling criminal cases, the judge said.
Young attorneys hired by private law firms are only allowed to be a public defender for about a year before the law firm partners expect them to start charging hourly rates for private cases that bring in more revenue, according to the judge.
On the other side of the spectrum, he said the county is also facing the problem of not being able to replace retiring public defenders.
“The days of people standing in line to get a public defender’s contract to help supplement their private practices is over,” Worton said. “Anyone who is not already a public defender has no interest in becoming one. It takes too much time, and it’s not worth the money.”
If local officials don’t take action soon, the county will be forced to contract with law firms privately for public defenders, Worton said. Because the hourly rate for private lawyers can range from $250 to $375, additional costs could easily rise into the hundreds of thousands of dollars, he said.
“Indigent defense is a right, not an option,” Worton reminded the council.
According to council attorney Chris Monroe, the benefits being sought by the judges for public defenders can only be granted by the Bartholomew County commissioners. The judges have asked to be placed on the agenda of an upcoming commissioners’ meeting.
