Shadowy?

From an editorial out of Daytona:

Constitutional question only part of this mess

The idea of a second, shadowy public defender system always seemed dubious to those most familiar with the Florida criminal-justice system, including Gov. Charlie Crist.

Now -- as the newly appointed heads of five regional agencies scramble to meet an impossible deadline -- the state association of criminal defense attorneys says the scheme might well violate the Florida Constitution. They've asked Attorney General Bill McCollum to consider challenging the plan in court. The sooner McCollum takes action, the better. If the defense lawyers are right -- and Florida stays on this course -- it could cost the state years, and piles of taxpayer dollars, to straighten the mess out....

The new system won't be ready in time. The new regional counsels, appointed just a few weeks ago by Crist, still haven't hired enough staff, and some still need office space. From the start, it was also clear the new offices would be underfunded. Last year, conflict cases cost the state more than $90 million at the bargain-basement rate paid to private attorneys. The Regional Conflict Counsel program is budgeted at $50 million.

Jeffrey Deen, the Orlando attorney appointed to handle cases in the 13-county area that includes Volusia and Flagler, will have a budget of around $5 million, from which he plans to hire 40 to 45 attorneys and about 20 support staff, Deen told the Florida Bar News.

Allow me to apologize to Mr. Deen for posting below that some of the new Regional Counsels seem inaccessible. He's talking to the Florida Bar News, and will attend a luncheon of the Central Florida Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers on September 26 in Orlando.

The editorial quoted above is interesting, but as is the trend does not mention dependency cases.