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BOISE, Idaho (AP) — Lawmakers on a committee charged with improving Idaho's public defense system have killed a resolution that would have given the state full responsibly for assigning attorneys to indigent defenders.
Earlier this year, nearly 200 representatives from the state's 44 counties voted that Idaho should manage the public defense system. However, members of the Legislature's Public Defense Reform Interim Committee agreed at a meeting Monday that counties should remain in control.
The Idaho Association of Counties has repeatedly argued that it's the state's responsibility to fund the public defense system and to make sure it's meeting its constitutional requirements. The association also has pointed out that county commissioners don't have law degrees, and they end up making decisions on how to manage the public defense system based on finances rather than legal strategy.
The association worries that the new standards the committee is considering will be another series of unfunded mandates that could cripple counties already strapped for cash.
However, according to committee member and Republican state Sen. Dean Mortimer, county officials have the local expertise to best address the issue.
"A lot of things are mandated by the state. It's mandated that the state provides education and yet it's enforced by local control," Mortimer said. "Where public defense is really happening, to me, it still comes down to the county. If I want someone to make local decisions, the place I have to go is the county."
Along with rejecting the counties' resolution, lawmakers voted to continue meeting into 2015 to finish finalizing new standards and rules for contracts.
The American Civil Liberties Union of Idaho and other legal experts have warned lawmakers since 2010 that Idaho's public defense system is a potential target for lawsuits.
Four years ago, a report from the National Legal Aid and Defender Association found that Idaho is violating its Sixth Amendment obligations to defendants. Public defenders across the state were being given too many cases, and some defendants weren't meeting their attorneys until they were in the courtroom. The report also said that defendants sometimes felt pressured to accept a plea agreement rather than go to trial.
After the report was released, Idaho lawmakers and the Idaho Criminal Justice Commission passed some bills to improve the state's public defense system, but lawmakers and officials entrenched in the system agree more must be done in order to prevent potential lawsuits.
Republican state Sen. Todd Lakey, of Nampa, said he agrees the public defense system is a state responsibility but the system is best managed by those closest to the issue.
"Every county is different," he said.
Dan Chadwick, executive director of the Idaho Association of Counties, says the resolution won't be presented again.
"I don't think it has any legs," Chadwick said. "We made our presence known, but it didn't go anywhere. We will continue to work with the committee, but there's a lot more work to be done."
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