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Creation of statewide public defense office receives unanimous support in committee [1]
['Makenzie Huber', 'More From Author', '- January']
Date: 2024-01-19
PIERRE — A bill that would fund a statewide public defense office passed through the House State Affairs Committee on a unanimous vote in the Capitol on Friday.
The office, which would assign attorneys to handle appeals along with abuse and neglect cases, would cost the state $1.4 million annually, paying for one lead public defender, four staff attorneys and two support staffers.
The effort is expected to save counties an overall $2.1 million and would provide a net savings of $600,000 to taxpayers. Counties would still pay for public defenders or court-appointed attorneys for other types of criminal cases in which a defendant can’t afford a lawyer.
The bill, which is supported by Gov. Kristi Noem, now heads to the House Appropriations Committee.
The request is an outgrowth of the work from a task force that met several times last year to discuss issues of indigent defense. Defendants have a constitutionally protected right to an attorney, which is currently funded at the county level in South Dakota.
When the group first convened, South Dakota was one of two states to saddle counties with the entire financial burden of providing legal representation to those who can’t afford to pay lawyers.
South Dakota is now the last state in that category, and it currently ranks 49th in the nation in contributions to indigent defense from a statewide level, said Greg Sattizahn, South Dakota state court administrator.
The issue has become a budget buster for some counties, particularly smaller ones that face high-profile felony trials involving the payment of expert defense witnesses. It’s also becoming difficult to find lawyers to take on court appointments in rural areas as the majority of lawyers live in urban areas.
South Dakota Supreme Court Chief Justice Steven Jensen told lawmakers during the annual State of the Judiciary speech last week that six counties in the state do not have any attorneys, while 23 have three or fewer lawyers.
That creates legal deserts where rural areas aren’t able to find qualified lawyers to represent defendants.
“You really need to make sure that lawyer is trained and qualified to handle that kind of case. And so, when you have that quality representation, it saves costs as well,” Sattizahn told lawmakers, explaining that competent representation reduces future challenges to the case’s outcome.
The criminal justice system is “vastly overpopulated” by low income individuals – many who depend on indigent defense, said Rep. Will Mortenson, R-Fort Pierre, during the bill hearing.
“I think this is a group that we often forget in this Capitol. There aren’t very many people running around with a badge for indigent folks, right? They don’t hire lobbyists,” Mortenson said. “In this case, we have an opportunity to serve those people better, to guarantee their constitutional rights in a more effective way.”
Officials hope the state public defender office will eventually come to serve a broader role in the justice system, offering guidance to counties and court-appointed lawyers and eventually offering legal help in cases before they reach the appeals stage.
An indigent defense commission will oversee the office.
The effort was widely supported by lobbyists for the legal profession during testimony. The South Dakota Association of County Commissioners also spoke in support of the bill.
Rep. Roger Chase, R-Huron, was co-chair of a county funding commission last summer, exploring legislative efforts that would alleviate the financial strain on most of South Dakota’s counties. Indigent legal defense was the number one priority during the study, though the group had sought a different solution that would cap counties’ defense costs and require the state pay the rest of it.
“There’s been our priorities and UJS’s priorities,” Chase said. “This comes together and it just proves that when people sit down in a room and really put good thoughts together, good legislation can come from that.”
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[1] Url:
https://southdakotasearchlight.com/2024/01/19/creation-south-dakota-statewide-public-defense-office-support-committee-sd-legislature/
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