County impacted by public defender cuts, By LISA KACZKE, Staff Writer

More than 15 percent of the state’s public defenders were cut in June, leaving staff at the Koochiching County Court Administrator’s Office considering how to move forward.
The Minnesota Board of Public Defense voted to cut 72 full-time jobs by the end of the summer to help absorb a $3.8 million state budget deficit.
The public defense board provides criminal and juvenile defense services to people who can’t afford to hire a private lawyer. Before the cuts, there were 525 attorneys working as full- or part-time public defenders in Minnesota, handling about 170,000 cases a year, according to state Public Defender John Stuart.
Koochiching County Court Administrator Carol Clauson said she believes court administration hasn’t seen the full ramifications of the cuts yet, but believes the cuts will have a large impact on Koochiching County. Court administration is already “stretched very thin,” Clauson said, adding that the full impact of the cuts won’t be known for about one year.
The county has two part-time public defenders that have not been cut. And court-appointed public defenders come to Koochiching County from outside the area to handle cases.
Clauson is now attempting to schedule attorneys in about 45 pending open Child in Need of Protection Services cases.
About eight years ago, public defenders offered to represent parents in CHIPS cases. Public defenders are not required to represent the parents in the cases, and because of the recent cuts, the public defenders decided they will no longer provide services in CHIPS cases.
This decision has left county court administration trying to find the “method and means” of transitioning new attorneys to the cases. Clauson said she is attempting to cause the least upset possible to the pending cases with the new appointed attorneys.
Court costs are covered by the state. Public defender costs are not paid for by the state. Instead, the county is expected to be responsible for the costs involved in the new attorneys, Clauson said. County officials are concerned with the increase in the county’s budget for court administration costs.

The Associated Press contributed to this story.