From OPB:
Oregon’s public defense system has less than one-third of the attorneys the state needs to adequately represent criminal defendants, according to a two-year study by the American Bar Association set to be released Friday.
The state contracts out all of its public defense work at the trial level to nonprofits and private attorneys through a state agency known as the Office of Public Defense Services.
“OPDS has 31% of the attorneys needed to address current caseload,” according to a slideshow from representatives of the ABA who presented their findings Thursday to OPDS commissioners and staff.
The ABA’s Committee on Legal Aid and Indigent Defense worked with the accounting firm Moss Adams. Together, they found Oregon has the equivalent of 592 full-time public defenders but needs 1,888 to meet the current caseload. That translates into a 69% shortage, or 1296 public defenders. Continue reading >>>
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