Deschutes County Expects Progress on Public Defender Crisis

After nearly a year of facing a local shortage in public defenders, Deschutes County may finally see a light at the end of the tunnel, as staffing increases. Throughout 2024, the local court system has struggled to represent individuals waiting for their day in court, due to a local shortage in attorneys.

A loss of staff, as well as an increase in high-level felony cases, left about 90% of those going through the criminal justice system without representation in May, according to Joel Wirtz with local attorney group Deschutes Defenders.

Throughout the year, Deschutes County has been forced to release some of the individuals waiting for representation, even dismissing charges in some cases due to a rule limiting how long an individual can remain without an attorney.

As public defender organizations begin to gain employees back, the County may soon be able to get on top of the problem. However, since the County continues to have cases coming in, Judge Wells B. Ashby believes it will take some to get back to processing court cases in a timely manner.

While most of the attorney groups have now hired more people and are nearing full capacity, Ashby said many are new to the field and unable to take a large variety of cases at this point. Wirtz with Deschutes Defenders, one of three local public defender agencies in the county, confirmed this, and said by the end of this month, they will have 19 attorneys – more than they did before the crisis.

In order to keep up with the backlog of people waiting for representation, Ashby noted that some local independent attorneys have helped take cases. Ashby sent out a message to local attorneys, letting them know they can help out if they are interested. Many have been able to step in, taking cases here and there, he said.

“People did step up. Representative [Jason] Kropf came down and picked up a case, which was awesome,” said Ashby.

On Oct. 10, Deschutes County had 115 unrepresented people. However, the added capacity in the public defense industry can eventually ease the burden on the justice system and help keep the community safe.

“It’s not a public defender crisis, it’s a justice crisis,” said Ashby. People want resolution, he said, and when there isn’t an attorney available to take their case, it can be stressful. “Without representation or your day in court, you’re stuck,” he said.

The number of unrepresented people in the system increased this past year as Deschutes County, and Oregon, saw an overall drop in attorney personnel. “I think it has to do a lot with the pandemic. A lot of people are starting to retire, and less people are going through law school now,” Wirtz told the Source Weekly in May.

Before the crisis, it was rare for people to have to wait for representation, Ashby said. In the last year, they saw some people leave for other opportunities. The high cost of living in Deschutes County, he said, also contributed to the dwindling number of public defenders.

“The cost of living in Deschutes County is just staggering,” said Ashby. “That’s just a challenge that probably faces every industry in Central Oregon.”

In addition to getting ahead of staffing problems, the impacts of the recent recriminalization of drugs and the start of deflection, a program that connects those caught with small amounts of drugs to treatment in lieu of criminal charges, remains to be seen.

Wirtz, with Deschutes Defenders, has some concerns going forward with the potential increase in cases and hopes the legislature will help fund additional needed public defenders in the area.

“Obviously it will be several months before we know whether or not there will be a significant increase, but my best guess is we will need additional staff to support House Bill 4002,” he said.

Judge Ashby, on the other hand, remains hopeful. While recriminalization may initially add to attorney workload, he said, if the program does what its intended to do – help people to break the cycle of addiction – it could ultimately lead to reduced crime.

This article appears in Source Weekly October 10, 2024.