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NEWS
FEATURE
Nick Aemisegger Jr., regional deputy public defender for Region 1 in Kalispell. GREG LINDSTROM | FLATHEAD BEACON
PUBLIC DEFENSE OFFICES PUSHED TO THE BRINK
ACLU says defendants spend more time in jail because publicly appointed attorneys are often overworked
BY JUSTIN FRANZ OF THE BEACON
Public defense attorneys across the United States and in Montana are overworked and understaffed, and as a result, defendants are often spending more time in jail.
Earlier this year, the state Legis- lature created an 11-member panel to look at the issues facing the Office of the State Public Defender, the agency tasked with representing those who have been charged with a crime but cannot afford an attorney to defend them. The Office of
the State Public Defender was created in 2005 after the American Civil Liberties Union sued the state for not providing defendants adequate counsel.
“The system is so much better now, but the Office of the State Public Defender is still suffering from growing pains and the Legislature has been slow to respond to its needs,” said Niki Zupanic, public policy director for ACLU of Montana.
Between 2010 and 2014, the num- ber of cases assigned to the Office of the
State Public Defender (OPD) grew by 14.6 percent. During the 2014 fiscal year, the office had more than 21,000 ongoing cases.
Prior to OPD’s creation, public defenders were contracted by the county and appointed by judges. While the state was supposed to reimburse counties for the public defenders’ work, it often short- changed local governments and, because of that, counties frequently cut corners, according to Zupanic. Public defenders,
she added, were rarely given adequate resources needed to properly prepare cases and defendants in some cases took plea deals even if they were innocent.
Nick Aemisegger, regional deputy public defender for Region 1 based in Kalispell, said the current system does a better job protecting the rights of the accused, but there are still challenges. Most notably, Aemisegger said his team of attorneys is often pushed to the brink and must juggle dozens of cases at once.
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OCTOBER 21, 2015 // FLATHEADBEACON.COM