1. Board of Public Defense House Judiciary Finance/Civil Law Committee
State of Minnesota
Board of Public Defense
Budget Overview
House Judiciary Finance/Civil Law Committee
February 19, 2019

2. Largest User of Court System
150,000 cases on trial level
4,700 appellate files opened
4,700 supervised release (parole revocation) files opened
Provide Mandated Services in Every County/Courtroom
Represent 90% of felony and delinquency cases, more than ½ of all misdemeanor cases
Caseloads and Workloads Commitments controlled by outside factors

3. Public Defenders Cannot Refuse Cases
Dzubiak v Mott
a public defender “may not reject a client, but is obligated to represent whoever is assigned to her or him…”
State v Deegan
after the state public defender’s office declined to represent Deegan because he plead guilty and received less than the presumptive sentence, the district court denied Deegan's motion for appointment of counsel. The Minnesota State Supreme Court reversed that decision.

4. F.Y Budget by Item
FY $88.3 million

5. 3 Critical Areas We Are Losing Ground
Board of Public Defense Budget Request Maintain and Stabilize the Public Defender System
Perfect Storm-
3 Critical Areas We Are Losing Ground
Caseload Growth and Staffing
Recruitment and Retention
Legislatively enacted Partnership with Hennepin County

6. Maintaining and Stabilizing Public Defense F. Y. 2020- $10,034. F. Y
Item
F.Y. 2020
F.Y. 2021
Caseload Increases/Staffing Ratios
$3,296
$9,472
Compensation
$3,957
$7,970
Mandated Insurance Cost Increases
$699
$1,406
Hennepin County Cost Sharing
$2,000
Public Defense Corporations
$82
$166
Total
$10,034
$21,014

7. Caseload Growth and Staffing
Board of Public Defense Budget Request Maintain and Stabilize Public Defender System
Caseload Growth and Staffing

8. Percentage Increase in Cases F.Y. 2015 to F.Y. 2018

9. Child Protection Caseloads
Governor’s Task Force on Child Protection
McKenna's Law
Drug Cases- (in particular meth cases)

10. Appellate Office Caseloads F.Y. 2015 & F.Y. 2018

11. Public Defender Staffing
2016/2017 Level

12. Professional Staff vs Weighted Caseload Standard

13. Staffing
Staff
Number
Attorneys Per Staff
Attorneys-District Level *
523
N/A
Paralegals 31
16.8
Investigators 43
12.2
Legal Secretary/Assistant 77
6.8
Dispositional Advisors 30
17.4
*Attorneys and Managing Attorneys on District Level

14. Changes in the Court System
No longer receive paper files or ed files
150,000 cases per year
Download one document at a time
Documents separated- What was one document is now multiple documents.
Process
Click on each document
Highlight selected documents
Print to the printer
Make sure document is not mixed in with other print jobs
Manually date and collate the documents
1. (Evaluation Report, Public Defender System- Office of the Legislative Auditor February 2010)

15. Caseload Increases-Staffing Ratios F.Y. 2020- $3,296 F.Y. 2021- $9,472

16. Staff Request to Support Existing Attorneys

17. Recruitment and Retention
Board of Public Defense Budget Request Maintain and Stabilize Public Defender System
Recruitment and Retention
F.Y $3, F.Y $7,970

18. Public Defender Resignation Rates FY 2015- FY 2018

19. Public Defender Resignations C.Y. 2015- C.Y. 2018

20. Assistant Public Defender Resignations C. Y. 2014-C. Y
Assistant Public Defender Resignations C.Y C.Y by Years of Service

21. Recruitment 2nd District
Dispositional Advisor candidate turned job down works at Regions Hospital social worker- $20k more.
3rd District
2- Legal Secretary/Assistants accepted then declined before starting- one went to county attorney for $15k more.
5th Judicial District
5 applicants for Assistant Public Defender position- 4 were not qualified
Last three advertisements- 0- applications for Assistant Public Defender position.
8th Judicial District
Last opening 2 applicants- one from the Twin Cities- he did not own a car.
7th Judicial District
3 people accepted and then turned down position Legal Secretary/Assistant.
Applicant for Asst. PD- experienced PD in New Mexico, our offer was $11,000 less than what he is making now.
Applicant for Asst. PD- experienced PD in Iowa, our offer was $20,000 less than what he is making now.

22. Median Number of Applications Assistant Public Defender Positions Greater Minnesota Districts

23. Median Number of Applications Assistant Public Defender Positions 2014-2018- Part Time

24. Compensation Issues Lower Entry Level Salary.
Lower Top of the Salary Scale.
More Steps (19) or longer time to progress through the scale.
Lack of resources to allow people to progress through the scale.

25. Recruitment and Retention Average Entry Level and Top of Attorney Range Select County Attorney and Public Agencies

26. Recruitment and Retention F.Y. 2020- $3,957 F.Y. 2021- $7,970
Adjust the salary scales to the level of the Office of the Attorney General and a sampling of county attorney offices.
Adjust salaries based on years of experience with the board.
F.Y. 2021
General Increase.

27. Mandated Insurance Cost Increases
Asst. Public Defender Entry Level Personnel Costs
Insurance Costs
MMB Insurance Cost Estimates-
2.99% effective 1/1/19
5.63% effective 1/1/20
5.62% effective 1/1/21

28. Public Defense Corporation Funding
Minneapolis Legal Rights Center
St. Paul Neighborhood Justice Center
Duluth Indian Legal Services
Regional Native Public Defense Corporation
5% Increase each year for 2020 and 2021.
The Board administers grant funding to non-profit public defense corporations under M.S
The corporations handle cases that would otherwise be public defender cases.

29. Cost Sharing Hennepin County
Board of Public Defense Budget Request Maintain and Stabilize Public Defender System
Cost Sharing Hennepin County
F.Y $2, F.Y $2,000

30. Cost Sharing Hennepin County 1990s State Assumes Cost of Public Defense
A) Cost sharing between State and Hennepin County (M.S Sub. 3a (c).
B) “Grandfathering” of county employees. (M.S Sub 3)
C) January 1, 1999 replace county vacancies with state employees (M.S Sub 3)
Understanding at the time that this situation was not sustainable
Hennepin County continues to provide approximately $6 million annually to run the office.