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I was one of the many public defenders in Idaho who resigned recently. Here’s why. • Idaho Capital Sun [1]

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Date: 2025-04-17

For the past six years, I worked as a public defender in Ada County, representing people in child protection, misdemeanor and felony cases. Even though the work was often mentally and emotionally taxing, I found a sense of purpose and community in it, and I took great pride in giving people a fair chance in court if they couldn’t afford an attorney on their own.

However, I resigned in November of last year without having another job lined up because the changes to the public defense system made it impossible for me to do my job.

Last October, Idaho transitioned the oversight of public defense away from being managed by each county to the singular Office of the State Public Defender in Boise. This changeover has been underfunded and mismanaged, directly leading to violations of defendants’ constitutional rights, the mass exodus of attorneys and staff, and increased caseloads for those who stayed. It has not remedied the ongoing problems that led the ACLU of Idaho to sue the state in 2015.

The statewide overhaul was Idaho’s solution to the lawsuit filed 10 years ago against the state demanding Idaho overhaul the public defense system because it was not adequately meeting the demands of people needing an attorney assigned to them by the court. The transition to the state public defender system was supposed to improve the situation, but so far, things have only gotten worse.

In the months leading up to the transition, public defense staff were apprehensive about the changes because our basic questions still had no answers. Will we still have access to the jail and prison to visit our clients? Will our emails change? Are we expected to travel to other counties?

Rather than answer those questions, the state announced significant pay cuts for employees in July 2024, affecting those who had dedicated years of service to public defense, with some cuts reaching as high as $40,000 a year. This led to a change in our working conditions, turning from a supportive environment to one filled with tension and uncertainty, prompting a wave of resignations. In addition to the pay cuts, the state’s poorly executed rollout of new technology last September left public defenders unable to communicate with clients in jail for a month, further hampering our ability to provide an adequate defense.

Despite this, the leadership at the Office of the State Public Defender has issued statements minimizing concerns about staffing shortages and mismanagement, failing to address the mounting issues and leaving attorneys and staff overwhelmed by higher workloads, bureaucratic delays and inefficiencies. The gap between defendants and their constitutional right to an attorney continued to grow wider.

While I have sympathy for such a daunting task as overhauling a state’s public defense system, patience only goes so far when the leaders of the clearly underfunded and rushed overhaul seem impervious to feedback, ignoring legitimate complaints and severe shortages.

Idaho’s elected leaders must acknowledge the crisis our public defense system is in and remedy it.

When I made the difficult choice to leave, it was because I lost hope that the situation would improve. I still struggle with the guilt of feeling like I abandoned my clients, and the guilt of knowing my departure made it even that much more difficult for the attorneys who remain, trying to serve clients amidst the chaos. My mental health was suffering, my clients were suffering, my colleagues were suffering, and we were all being told there was no problem.

This is simply unacceptable.

This must be addressed. We are absolutely in crisis mode.

Step one is to acknowledge the rollout of the SPD has been fraught with mistakes and mismanagement. Step two is to fix it. Step three is to create a system of transparency and good leadership to oversee the system moving forward.

We cannot wait any longer for a fix. Every day that does not happen is another day too many more Idahoans are robbed of their constitutional rights. I am begging our elected officials to act immediately to address this severe crisis.

Last updated 4:03 a.m., Apr. 17, 2025

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[1] Url: https://idahocapitalsun.com/2025/04/17/i-was-one-of-the-many-public-defenders-in-idaho-who-resigned-recently-heres-why/

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