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State of Minnesota Board of Public Defense 2020-2021 Budget Overview

State of Minnesota Board of Public Defense 2020-2021 Budget Overview House Judiciary Finance/Civil Law Committee February 19, 2019. Largest User of Court System. 150,000 cases on trial level 4,700 appellate files opened 4,700 supervised release (parole revocation) files opened

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State of Minnesota Board of Public Defense 2020-2021 Budget Overview

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  1. State of Minnesota Board of Public Defense 2020-2021 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. 2019 Budget by Item FY 2019- $88.3 million

  5. Board of Public Defense 2020-2021 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 DefenseF.Y. 2020- $10,034 F.Y. 2021- $21,014

  7. Board of Public Defense 2020-2021 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 vsWeighted Caseload Standard

  13. Staffing *Attorneys and Managing Attorneys on District Level

  14. Changes in the Court System • No longer receive paper files or e-mailed 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 RatiosF.Y. 2020- $3,296 F.Y. 2021- $9,472

  16. Staff Request to Support Existing Attorneys

  17. Board of Public Defense 2020-2021 Budget Request Maintain and Stabilize Public Defender System • Recruitment and Retention • F.Y. 2020- $3,957 F.Y. 2021- $7,970

  18. Public Defender Resignation Rates FY 2015- FY 2018

  19. Public Defender ResignationsC.Y. 2015- C.Y. 2018 2019- 8 Resignations

  20. Assistant Public Defender Resignations C.Y. 2014-C.Y. 2018 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 PositionsGreater Minnesota Districts 2014-2018

  23. Median Number of Applications Assistant Public Defender Positions2014-2018- 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 RetentionAverage Entry Level and Top of Attorney RangeSelect County Attorney and Public Agencies

  26. Recruitment and Retention F.Y. 2020- $3,957 F.Y. 2021- $7,970 FY 2020 • 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. 5% Increase each year for 2020 and 2021. The Board administers grant funding to non-profit public defense corporations under M.S. 611.215. The corporations handle cases that would otherwise be public defender cases. Public Defense Corporation Funding

  29. Board of Public Defense 2020-2021 Budget Request Maintain and Stabilize Public Defender System • Cost Sharing Hennepin County • F.Y. 2020- $2,000 F.Y. 2021- $2,000

  30. Cost Sharing Hennepin County1990s State Assumes Cost of Public Defense • A) Cost sharing between State and Hennepin County (M.S. 611.26 Sub. 3a (c). • B) “Grandfathering” of county employees. (M.S. 611.263 Sub 3) • C) January 1, 1999 replace county vacancies with state employees (M.S. 611.263 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.

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