Trouble to the north

This story is out of Georgia, but interesting because Florida does not seem to be the only State struggling with adequately funding appointed counsel. There is no mention of dependency cases in this article, though:

The Georgia Public Defender Standards Council, which took over indigent defense for most of the state in 2005, saw its budget cut and was the target of heavy criticism by some lawmakers earlier this year. Some of those same critics will be on hand today, but—with a new director, a renewed focus on cost-cutting and the transfer of the council to the executive branch—staff and committee members hope to smooth some of the bumps that accompanied the system’s first two years in operation.

Sounds familiar.

The issue of conflict attorneys is particularly urgent, said Sarah Haskin, deputy director of administration at the council. When adjusting the council’s budget earlier this year, Senate budget writers cut the council’s request for conflict counsel from $8 million to $2 million; the year before, she said, the council paid $11 million for such attorneys.

From eight to two?

“We have no control over the amount” needed for conflict counsel, noted Martin. “When a judge says, ‘I want counsel appointed,’ we can’t argue.”

As the kids say, "True that".