By the Union’s count, the Public Defender Office is down to 434 frontline attorneys. This is way below the 467 attorneys provided for in the 2007 county budget. Through layoffs, attrition, and members taking advantage of the county pension buyout, our staffing levels are too low.
The Union is not waiting for this situation to rectify itself. This week, members of the Union board will be attending meetings to try to get some action. We will seek to have the remaining attorneys on layoff brought back as soon as possible, and will also seek to have our Office immediately begin hiring additional attorneys to bolster our numbers. Stay tuned for more information.
