Missouri lawmakers: public defender system failing, but search for funds a challenge
Missouri state legislators say the state’s broken public defender system needs to be properly funded, but caution that budgetary and political concerns could get in the way.
Last week, The Star published a seven-part series showing how the system fails poor defendants by providing inadequate representation that falls short of basic constitutional guarantees. The stories documented abuse by the courts, wrongful convictions and massive caseloads that stretch defenders beyond their ability to vigorously represent clients.
“The flaws in our public defender system make it clear that people who are innocent are going to jail simply because their public defenders aren’t able to make an adequate defense,” said Rep. Shamed Dogan, R-St. Louis County. “For the sake of efficiency, we’re locking up people who are innocent. That’s unacceptable.”
Dogan said he supports finding ways to decrease the number of people who find themselves in the criminal justice system and in need of a public defender. He pointed to shifting more drug cases toward drug treatment courts where defendants can avoid a criminal conviction.
House budget chairman Cody Smith, a Republican from Carthage, said the public defender system has received increases, most recently for two juvenile advocacy offices.
Last year, the system received a total of $51 million. Its leaders say it needs nearly double its current number of attorneys.
“Most would agree we still have a lot of work left to do,” Smith said.
“The General Assembly is looking to adequately fund the public defender’s office, and everyone would agree it’s high time we did that.”
But it won’t be easy with other costly budget priorities like education and Medicaid.
“We have to balance the budget,” Smith said. “We can’t create or print dollars like the federal government can. We have a finite amount of money to spend.”
Sen. Tony Luetkemeyer, who chairs the Senate judiciary committee, said he doesn’t have a solution to the budget situation. But, as an attorney, he has contributed pro bono services.
“We need to make sure we have a well-functioning criminal justice system,” the Parkville Republican said. “And part of that is making sure that anyone who is accused of a crime gets the defense they are granted in the constitution.”
Drew Warren Rogers, a Kansas City candidate for the Missouri House of Representatives, said he would advocate for balancing the funding of public defender and prosecutor offices.
The Star found that the Jackson County Prosecutor’s Office has three times the staff of the local public defender’s office. Across the state, prosecutor’s offices have budgets many times larger than the public defenders.
But going into an election year will present challenges for such an issue to gain support.
“It is very tempting to say, ‘Yeah, let’s just enhance penalties,’” Dogan said. “That’s not reform ... You’re just increasing punishment for the sake of political soundbites.”
Defendants who have been caught up in the system also want to see it change.
“It seriously needs some super help because there are so many people getting a raw deal out of it,” said Claudia Henderson, a Phelps County woman who had a lawyer through the system earlier this year. “I just really hope that they can figure out how to fix it to help it do what it’s supposed to do, to uphold the constitution.”
She said money is a big part of the solution. But it’s also about getting people to care.
Gary Anderson spent a year in jail in Kansas City before he was acquitted on one charge and got probation on a second. If his public defender had more time, he said, he may have been acquitted on the second charge too.
“I would like to see them have less clients and have more time to spend with their clients,” he said. “Their hands are tied.”
