Public Defense

Because Cost is Our Main Concern

We here at the public defender's office are primarily concerned with providing the cheapest legal representation possible for the indigent. After all, why should you waste your hard-earned tax dollars providing quality legal representation to poor people? This "right" to the assistance of counsel is just a technicality of the Constitution.

Public Defender cheaper, says Hall Public Defender
By Jerry Gunn

GAINESVILLE - Hall County Public Defender Brad Morris said Thursday during an open house at his new office across from the courthouse that the Public Defender will prove more cost effective than the former court appointed attorney system.

Morris said that actual defense of indigent felony defendants amounts to less than half the amount of money estimated to run his office."

I think our figure is more like $900,000; the total figure they're talking about is $2.2-million," Morris said.

Morris said the $2.2-million includes still appointed state court cases and lawyer bills from previous cases heard before his office opened last January.

County Commissioner Steve Gailey says he wants to return to court appointed indigent defense, which he claims, is more cost effective.


This article burns me because, at the genesis of this county's first public defender's office, the reporter focuses only on how this will save money. I'm all for efficient, responsible use of taxpayer money, but couldn't the so-called "liberal press" tout the benefits that a public defender's office holds for the indigent accused?

Court-appointed attorneys often practice in several different areas of law and even different courthouses. This means that it is logistically difficult for them to appear on time to hearings and have adequate time to prepare. Since they are paid on a per client basis, it is to their benefit to have a lot of clients. Maybe even more than they can adequately represent. (In the county in which I practice, this reality is worsened by the fact that the court pays them far too little per client, thereby encouraging overloading and double-billing.) This heavy caseload and frequent travel between courthouses means that these attorneys are often difficult for their clients to reach. These attorneys are often unaffiliated sole practitioners so they answer only to themselves and do not have partners for assistance or supervisors for oversight.

In our county, even though we have a public defender's office, we still use court appointed attorney's when the public defender has a conflict of interest. Most of the time, these attorneys are honest and talented and I count many of them as my friends. However, in my relatively inexperienced opinion, I believe that a public defenders system is far superior to a set of unaffiliated court-appointed attorneys. So it burns me that this article focuses on saving the taxpayers money on their constitutional obligation rather than commenting on the quality with which the county serves the indigent accused.

posted by Public Defense @ 12/09/2005