High Caseloads, High Turnover in St. Lawrence County

The new Public Defender in St. Lawrence County comes into an office with a huge, growing caseload and a shrinking staff. Last year, the three criminal defense attorneys in the office handled 1,821 cases last year – an average of 607 apiece. Yet one attorney position was eliminated this year, according to a news account. And the problem is longstanding. The New York State Defenders Association noted a St. Lawrence turnover problem in 2001, in footnote 21 to a report on statewide problems. Since 1999, the tenure of five St. Lawrence County Public Defenders has lasted from less than a year to no more than two, with only one person holding the job for over five years.

But this is not just a St. Lawrence County problem. Consider Jefferson County, which adjoins St. Lawrence. A report card issued by the National Legal Aid and Defender Association (NLADA) in 2008 on Jefferson County’s provision of public defense services noted that there had been 28 attorneys in the office during its 20 year existence. Only seven had ever remained with the office for more than 5 years. Fifteen had stayed less than 2 years. Things have improved somewhat, according to the County Administrator there, because of an increase in salaries. He told the Watertown Daily Times for the above story that they had been “very successful” keeping staff attorneys for “four or five years,” up from the late 1990s when they were “keeping staff for maybe two years” and “ thought that was pretty good."

High turnover due to low salaries and high caseloads results in a nearly constant need to hire and train new staff. This is an inefficient use of limited resources. Raising salaries to retain staff places a great fiscal burden on counties. These are examples of why New York State should reform public defense. The proposed Independent Public Defense Commission would plan and implement effective ways to retain experienced, proficient public defense lawyers in the North Country and across the state.