Missouri eliminates wait lists for public defenders that judge found unconstitutional
There is no longer a waiting list for criminal defendants to be represented by an attorney in Missouri, an official testified during a court hearing Friday.
The state was able to eliminate the waiting lists primarily through a $3.6 million increase in funding, Mary Fox, director of the Missouri State Public Defender system said during a court hearing held by video conference.
Because of the funding, the number of people on waiting lists for public defender dropped to zero as of Nov. 30, she said.
Fox’s testimony came during a hearing on a class-action lawsuit filed in February 2020 by the ACLU of Missouri Foundation and the MacArthur Justice Center. That lawsuit contends that is unconstitutional that people charged with crimes are forced to wait for months and sometimes years, often while in jail, before they are assigned a public defender.
The organizations are seeking to end the use of public defender “waiting lists” because the Missouri Public Defender Commission was unfunded and understaffed.
Judge William E. Hickle, who was assigned to hear the case, found in February 2021 that such waiting lists violates a person’s rights to an attorney as provided in the United States and Missouri constitutions.
In an order issued at the time, Hickle said that such a waiting list “violates the obligations of the State to furnish counsel to allow for adequate representation at critical stages and at trial.” Hickle issued a temporary stay in the case.
During Friday’s hearing, Assistant Missouri Attorney General Jason Lewis argued that since the waiting lists have been eliminated, the court should dismiss the case as being moot. There was no evidence that the problem of wait lists will recur and if they do, any future problem can be addressed in additional litigation, he said.
Anthony Rothert with the ACLU argued that while wait lists might temporarily not be necessary, they have not been eradicated. He said that while the public defender’s budget has increased, it is subject to re-appropriation year after year. They are seeking a final judgment declaring that the use of wait lists is unconstitutional.
Fox testified that in January 2020, there was a waiting list of about 4,600 individuals, including 600 who were in pretrial detention.
Because of the funding, the public defender’s system was able to increase staff at the offices that had the largest wait lists as well as contract out cases to private attorneys.
The budget increase included funding for 53 additional attorneys in the trial offices, although she said they have not been able to fill all the positions. In offices were they have not been able to find a candidate, the public defender system has contracted out additional cases to private attorneys.
Fox was unable to say how many vacant attorney positions the system currently has. She said that there are vacancies in about 24 of its 33 trial offices. The agency is working to fill those vacancies.
When asked about its budget for its next fiscal year, Fox testified that the public defender office never has had a cut to its core budget.
“Once we have received authorization for something, then it’s never been taken away in subsequent years,” she said. “So I am extremely confident that the 53 additional attorneys we received for the trial offices will not be taken away from the public defender system in subsequent years.”
A 2019 Star investigation found the public defender system routinely fails to provide poor defendants adequate representation that is outlined in the state and federal constitutions.
The series highlighted abuse by the courts, wrongful convictions and massive caseloads that make it difficult for attorneys to adequately represent their clients.
