Court rejects public defender caseload rules

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- Missouri's public defenders cannot turn away certain categories of criminal defendants because of excessive caseloads, the state Supreme Court ruled Tuesday.

Instead, the high court said, public attorneys who represent the poor should work with prosecutors and judges to come up with alternatives when they believe they are so overburdened that they cannot take on additional defendants.

The unanimous decision marked another setback for Missouri's public defender system, which contends its attorneys are overloaded because of a lack of state funding. Earlier this year, Gov. Jay Nixon vetoed legislation that would have granted public defenders greater flexibility to deny or delay representation for defendants because of high caseloads.

The Supreme Court said rules adopted in December 2007 by the Missouri Public Defender Commission violated state law by allowing offices with high caseloads to deny representation to low-income defendants accused of certain crimes.

Specifically, the court struck down a policy excluding new probation revocation cases in which a suspended sentence had previously been imposed. The court also struck down a policy prohibiting public defenders from representing indigent people who previously had paid for a private attorney.

The court instead suggested several alternatives when public defenders believe their caseloads are too high. It said local court systems could:

* reach an agreement with prosecutors to limit the cases where they seek incarceration, which triggers a right for defendants to have attorneys.

* determine categories of cases for which private attorneys could be appointed by the court instead of public defenders.

* delay the appointment of defense attorneys for a while.

In the absence of such agreements, the Supreme Court noted that the Public Defender Commission's rules allow offices to deny all new appointments until caseloads ease.

"Clearly we've got to go back to the drawing board and take a closer look at how we might be able to implement the rule" on excessive caseloads, said Cat Kelly, deputy director for the state public defender system.

Buchanan County Prosecutor Dwight Scroggins, who is president of the Missouri Association of Prosecuting Attorneys, said the decision was generally in line with what prosecutors had expected and desired.

"Had it been any different, it would have placed the docketing of criminal cases in the court system in the hands of public defenders," said Scroggins, later adding: "This decision leaves it where it needs to be, which is in the hands of the judges."

The decision, written by Supreme Court Judge Michael Wolff, said public defenders are facing "significant case overload problems." It said the number of people sentenced for felonies in Missouri has nearly tripled during the past two decades, and that public defenders represent about 80 percent of all people charged with crimes carrying the potential for incarceration.

Scroggins said those figures are faulty and that public defenders actually handle fewer than 40 percent of the cases where incarceration is a possibility. Most prosecutors "do not believe there is a public defender caseload crisis," Scroggins said.

An October study by the Spangenberg Group and the Center for Justice, Law and Society at George Mason University in Fairfax, Va., said Missouri's public defender system has "an overwhelming caseload crisis" that has pushed the criminal justice system "to the brink of collapse."

Kelly said the ruling does seem to realize there "has to be some sort of safety valve to make sure our lawyers are providing ethical representation, and for that we're very appreciative."