Board of Public Defense House Judiciary Finance/Civil Law Committee 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 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

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.

F.Y. 2019 Budget by Item FY 2019- $88.3 million

3 Critical Areas We Are Losing Ground 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

Maintaining and Stabilizing Public Defense F. Y. 2020- $10,034. F. Y Item F.Y. 2020 F.Y. 2021 Caseload Increases/Staffing Ratios $3,296 $9,472 Compensation $3,957 $7,970 Mandated Insurance Cost Increases $699 $1,406 Hennepin County Cost Sharing $2,000 Public Defense Corporations $82 $166 Total $10,034 $21,014

Caseload Growth and Staffing Board of Public Defense 2020-2021 Budget Request Maintain and Stabilize Public Defender System Caseload Growth and Staffing

Percentage Increase in Cases F.Y. 2015 to F.Y. 2018

Child Protection Caseloads Governor’s Task Force on Child Protection McKenna's Law Drug Cases- (in particular meth cases)

Appellate Office Caseloads F.Y. 2015 & F.Y. 2018

Public Defender Staffing 2016/2017 Level

Professional Staff vs Weighted Caseload Standard

Staffing Staff Number Attorneys Per Staff Attorneys-District Level * 523 N/A Paralegals 31 16.8 Investigators 43 12.2 Legal Secretary/Assistant 77 6.8 Dispositional Advisors 30 17.4 *Attorneys and Managing Attorneys on District Level

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)

Caseload Increases-Staffing Ratios F.Y. 2020- $3,296 F.Y. 2021- $9,472

Staff Request to Support Existing Attorneys

Recruitment and Retention 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

Public Defender Resignation Rates FY 2015- FY 2018

Public Defender Resignations C.Y. 2015- C.Y. 2018

Assistant Public Defender Resignations C. Y. 2014-C. Y Assistant Public Defender Resignations C.Y. 2014-C.Y. 2018 by Years of Service

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.

Median Number of Applications Assistant Public Defender Positions Greater Minnesota Districts 2014-2018

Median Number of Applications Assistant Public Defender Positions 2014-2018- Part Time

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.

Recruitment and Retention Average Entry Level and Top of Attorney Range Select County Attorney and Public Agencies

Recruitment and Retention F.Y. 2020- $3,957 F.Y. 2021- $7,970 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.

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

Public Defense Corporation Funding Minneapolis Legal Rights Center St. Paul Neighborhood Justice Center Duluth Indian Legal Services Regional Native Public Defense Corporation 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.

Cost Sharing Hennepin County 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

Cost Sharing Hennepin County 1990s 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.