Guest Post by Debra Turner: We Need a Local Public Defender’s Office

A statue of Lady Justice towers high above
or local court house.

There are 30 Public Defender Office locations in Virginia, staffed, funded and managed by the Commonwealth’s Indigent Defense Commission to “protect the Constitutional right to counsel for people who cannot afford to hire their own lawyer.” Harrisonburg is one of the most populous areas in the state still without a Public Defender’s Office.  Our community is relying solely on a shrinking pool of court appointed attorneys to meet the needs of indigent defendants.

Public defenders do not replace court appointed attorneys, and both options are available in all of the areas with Public Defender’s Offices, such as in nearby jurisdictions like Lexington, Lynchburg, Roanoke, Staunton, Winchester and Charlottesville, to name a few. 
 
According to Defense Attorney Gene Hart, chair of a committee tasked by the Community Criminal Justice Board to study the issue, the pool of lawyers in our area willing or able to serve as court appointed attorneys is diminishing at the same time that the demand for them is increasing. This is partly because reimbursement is only $158 per case for misdemeanors and $1235 for a felony case in Circuit Court, whereas public defenders have a salary set by the Virginia Legislature. Their salary levels are set by the Indigent Defense Commission (IDC). No additional local tax dollars are required to be spent on salaries or facilities.
 
Low reimbursement of court appointed attorneys leads to high caseloads with less representation. This has resulted in comments from some local individuals about their experience with their court appointed attorneys such as, "They often came to see me the day before the court date or for a few minutes just before the hearing, and never prior to that." Or "I called my attorney numerous times and left voicemails asking when and at what time my court date was and what was going to happen, and was never called back.” And, ";My court appointed attorney never responded to my phone calls, messages, or letters, and never came to see me when I was incarcerated."
 
Often public defenders get better results which ultimately saves money all around. The Public Defender’s Office saves money by being more efficient by pooling resources. They have specialists and a central office building. They waste less time traveling as they usually serve just one courthouse.  They have access to a full-time Immigration Specialist which would be a giant plus for an area like ours with high ethnic diversity.  With in-office Mitigation Specialists like counselors and social workers, mental health issues are de-criminalized, and there is more moral accountability and compassion.  A Public Defender’s Office has a team to rely on and is not just a single private practice court appointed lawyer burdened with too many indigent cases.
 
Public Defenders must follow standards of practice that are client-centered.  They are scrutinized and are very competent. The Virginia Defenders Indigent Defense Commission summarizes their mission best as: “Dedicated to protecting and defending the rights and dignity of our clients through zealous, compassionate, high quality legal advocacy.” 

It’s time that the Harrisonburg-Rockingham County area makes this kind of high-quality representation available to our indigent population.  Please contact your local state legislators, Senator Mark Obenshain and Delegate Tony Wilt, and ask them to introduce a bill in the 2024 Virginia General Assembly to open such an office in our community.

This was submitted as an Open Forum to the Daily News-Record May 26.