In another example of spending money to save money, each of the four counties in the Lookout Mountain Judicial Circuit have renewed their financial support of the public defender system.
"We've saved the counties millions of dollars over the years," Assistant Public Defender Doug Woodruff said recently during Walker County Commissioner Bebe Heiskell's business meeting in December.
"They do a wonderful job and save the county money," Heiskell said after signing an agreement to renew the county's contract with the PD office to provide defense attorneys for the indigent in felony cases.
David Dunn, who heads the office serving this judicial circuit, noted that the U.S. Constitution and Georgia Constitution mandate that any person being prosecuted for a crime is entitled to legal representation. For the indigent, those unable to afford hiring a lawyer, the court must provide the services of an attorney to defend the accused.
"This is an absolute, inescapable obligation of the government under our Constitutions," said Dunn.
Until the creation of a statewide public defender system in 2005, this obligation fell largely upon county governments, and lawyers in private practice were hired - with taxpayer money - to provide representation for the indigent, Dunn said. Nowadays, county governments fund the prosecution of anyone, adult or juvenile, charged with a crime and the defense of those declared indigent by the courts.
"We also handle any direct appeals in the Georgia Supreme Court and Court of Appeals that may result from those prosecutions," Dunn said. "In practice, this means many things, including regular jail visits with persons who are newly arrested; advocating for pretrial release of our clients; investigation of charges pending litigation of pretrial motions and trials; preparation for and conduct of felony and misdemeanor trials; and handling probation revocation proceedings, motions for new trial, research and writing of appellate briefs and certain other postconviction matters."
The previous system of appointing defense attorneys on a piecemeal basis was more costly from pretrial through the initial trial; and during a capital case, where appeals are mandated following a conviction, the cost could skyrocket.
"The public defender system affords two primary advantages over other methods sometimes employed," Dunn said. "First, because public defenders are full-time criminal defense attorneys dedicated to this process, the system provides overall better quality representation to clients. The legal profession has become increasingly specialized, and public defenders, more so than any other attorneys, are experts in the law and procedure of criminal defense.
"Second, these constitutionally mandated services are provided in the most cost-efficient manner possible. The so-called 'appointment system' previously used in this judicial circuit actually costs the taxpayers significantly more than a public defender system, while also resulting in representation that was - at best - uneven in quality and sometimes woefully inadequate."
It is agreed that public defender offices in the four-county circuit provide better indigent service at a better price than was previously available.
"They did a fantastic job during the Sam Parker trial," Heiskell said, referring to the notorious case in which Parker, after a lengthy trial in 2009, was convicted of killing his wife Teresa.
This year's budget request is little changed from the last several years, but Dunn said there is a distinct possibility that continually increasing case loads will necessitate hiring more staff and attorneys in order to maintain services.
The Public Defender Office has a budget for 2013 of $1.266 million to provide indigent care throughout the circuit, one that is funded by a mix of state and county funds.
"The state portion, about 40 percent, comes entirely from fees generated in the court system rather than taxes," Dunn said.
Statewide in 2011, the amount collected from traffic fines/fees, bonds/bail, civil filing fees and fees charged to apply for indigent defense amounted to more than $42 million, of which about $33 million was distributed to counties and judicial circuits for indigent defense funding.
Locally, Dunn said public defenders are involved in about 3,000 cases each year, with the majority - roughly half - being heard in Catoosa County. That is because Catoosa has a large population and its courts handle both misdemeanor and felony cases.
"You are, by far, our biggest customer," Dunn told the Catoosa County Board of Commissioners when they approved county funding of the Public Defender Office for 2013.