Measure to set state standards for public defenders, fill gaps in county funding passes first hurdle in Senate

The U.S. Constitution requires federal and state governments to provide effective legal counsel for people who are arrested, no matter how poor they are.

But in Pennsylvania, getting a lawyer who has the resources needed to mount a proper defense often depends on the county where a person faces trial, according to the statewide organization that represents public defenders.

Pennsylvania is the only state in the nation that does not directly fund public defenders, according to a 2021 study that set the groundwork for reforms to the system being proposed.

The state Senate Judiciary Committee recently voted unanimously to advance a measure aimed at reforming the wide disparity in funding that exists for public defender offices.

“I think it’s fair to say that under the current system we use in Pennsylvania, it’s often justice by geography,” said Sara Jacobson, executive director of Public Defender Association of Pennsylvania.

“There are counties with enough money to properly staff their public defender offices and provide those attorneys with the other resources they need,” she said. “But we also have counties that just can’t afford to do that.”

Jacobson noted that in addition to paying for an attorney to represent an indigent person, providing an “effective” defense often requires hiring social workers and investigators.

But rather than earmarking money in the state budget to fund public defender offices across the state, Pennsylvania’s 67 counties are responsible for deciding how much to budget for the offices that defend people who can’t afford to hire a lawyer.

To address that problem, state Senate Bill 1317 calls for the creation of an Indigent Defense Advisory Committee that would be charged with comparing national standards for public defenders to Pennsylvania’s system.

If signed into law, the measure would use data on the workloads carried by public defenders to “determine objective standards” for providing legal services for indigent people, according to supporters.

“(Tuesday’s) vote is historic,” said Chuck Pascal, Armstrong County’s chief public defender and vice president of the public defender association. “This is the first time that any committee in the General Assembly has recognized the state’s responsibility in assuring that the Constitutional obligation for effective indigent defense is being met, and to begin to address the disparity of resources from county to county.”

The measure must be passed by the Senate and the House before it can be sent to the governor for consideration.

If signed into law, the measure also would create an Indigent Defense Grant Fund that uses an “evidence-based” approach to determine how state funding should be used to fill the gap between the amount counties pay for an indigent person’s defense and the standards that are developed, according to the association.

Westmoreland County Public Defender Wayne McGrew said he supports efforts to get the state to chip in for the cost of providing a legal defense for people who cannot afford to hire a lawyer.

If the law is passed and more funding is provided, McGrew said, it could help improve his office’s ability to represent indigent defendants.

McGrew said his office, which has a $1.39 million budget this year, handled more than 3,300 cases in 2021.

There currently are three vacancies in the office, including a full-time position that has been vacant since December, he said.

At full staff, the office has 10 full-time and four part-time lawyers.

“We’ve had a terrible time finding employees,” McGrew said, noting that a lack of state funding has left counties on their own to pay for public defenders.

“It’s a huge burden, so having more money is potentially very beneficial,” he said. “We’re not getting any less cases each year.”

Report: Vast disparity in funding

A report issued in November by the state Legislative Budget and Finance Committee found “vast differences” in funding levels for public defender offices in the state, with some counties spending as much as $30.20 per capita in 2019 for their offices while others spent as little as $3.20 per capita, according to the study.

The county with the highest per capita spending for public defender services in 2019 was Philadelphia at $30.20 followed by Venango, $16.20; Dauphin, $14.46; and Forest, $14.17.

Mercer County, which spends $10.27 per capita on pubic defenders, was the only other county in Western Pennsylvania that is among the top 10 in spending for public defender services.

Armstrong, Westmoreland spend comparatively little

The study found that in 2019, Mifflin County spent the least per capita, $3.20, on public defenders followed by Armstrong, $3.25, and Westmoreland, $3.76.

Indiana, at $4.52 per capita, and Somerset, at $5.54, were the other Western Pennsylvania counties on the list of 10 with the lowest expenditures per capita in the state in 2019.

Spending for Allegheny, Butler and other Southwestern Pennsylvania counties isn’t listed, as the report includes only the top and bottom spenders per capita.

Allegheny County officials declined to comment about the proposed legislation.

Brian L. Deiderick, the chief public defender for Lebanon County and president of the state association, said the measures being proposed “benefits all Pennsylvanians by creating a fairer justice system.”

“Better resourced defenders, with manageable caseloads and access to social workers and investigators, helps the courts reach more just results,” he said.

Jacobson said properly funding a public defender office can save money by reducing the chances of having to defend against a wrongful conviction.

She cited a 2016 Vanderbilt University study that estimated the cost of defending a wrongful conviction at about $6.1 million.

The lack of funding for public defender offices recently became an issue in Luzerne County, Jacobson said, noting that the public defender decided to stop taking on some cases because it could not afford to provide adequate legal representation.

In 2016, the state Supreme Court overturned a lower court ruling and allowed criminal defendants to sue a county as a way to prove that a public defender’s office is not adequately funded to provide the constitutional right to an attorney.