A half-step on defense of indigents
Let’s tick through some of the persistent issues that define indigent defense in Bexar County. There is no monitoring of caseloads or outcomes. There is no accountability in terms of seeing defendants. There is no office to field complaints.
And in practical terms, what that means is last fiscal year, three court-appointed attorneys handled more than 500 cases, which is well above recommended caseloads. Another three attorneys handled more than 400 cases in the year, again above best practices. And seven attorneys handled more than 300 cases in a given year. This is all according to state data. This is in addition to whatever private cases these attorneys may have taken. We have told stories of people who waited in jail for weeks without seeing their court-appointed defense attorneys. In the case of Janice DotsonStephens, who died in jail in December after spending months there on a misdemeanor trespassing charge, officials say there’s no indication her court-appointed attorney ever visited her. So, reform is clearly needed. To that end, Bexar County has applied for a grant from the Texas Indigent Defense Commission that could bring some oversight to this system. This grant would fund the creation of an “Attorney Review Committee” comprised of five local defense attorneys and two district court criminal judges. The committee would oversee a monitoring attorney, investigator and administrative assistant who would train defense attorneys, field and investigate complaints, and audit the local defense bar. As the grant application states, “the Monitoring Attorney will conduct an audit of 50 attorneys from each of the three felony appointments lists by contacting their clients.” They will review visitation logs at the Bexar County Adult Detention Center. And the team will also monitor other issues. For example, they will track felony cases in which the person who was arrested has remained in jail for more than 90 days but has not been indicted.
As far as oversight goes, this strikes us as a halfstep in the right direction. Why not a full one? First, it only applies to felonies, not misdemeanors, which are the bulk of criminal cases. Second, it would have been better if Bexar County had applied to the Texas Indigent Defense Commission for a grant to create a managed-assigned-counsel program, widely accepted as a best practice. This is because managed-assigned-counsel programs, done right, not only provide oversight but much-needed resources.
In a recent interview, TIDC Executive Director Geoffrey Burkhart said his office has a four-year grant available to help counties start managedassigned-counsel programs. The grant covers about 50 percent of the costs over those four years. Burkhart didn’t comment about Bexar’s grant application, but he said managed-assigned-counsel programs employ supervising attorneys to offer guidance and mentoring and monitor caseloads. It also has social workers, investigators and immigration law experts who can assist private defense attorneys.
“If you are a private attorney just out on your own, you don’t necessarily have that,” he said.
It’s also a dedicated office to field complaints. It’s everything Bexar County is applying for, but better. Lubbock, Travis and Collin counties all have managed-assigned-counsel programs, and Harris County has also applied for a TIDC grant to create one there. Burkhart and others have said that in large metro areas, indigent defense is best served through the combination of a managed-assignedcounsel program and a public defender’s office. That appears to be what is going to happen in Harris and Travis counties. But not in Bexar. Instead of pursuing a known best practice, Bexar appears to be pursuing something else. Is a halfstep forward true progress?