Concerns raised about Idaho’s new public defense system after exodus in public defenders

TWIN FALLS (Idaho Capital Sun) — Many people charged with felonies in Idaho remain in jail because they cannot afford bail, making free and timely access to communicate with a public defender crucial to their future in the criminal justice system. 

For nearly four weeks between September and October, public defense attorneys in southern Idaho could not be contacted by their clients in jail after they had their phone system switched from county-issued phones to state-issued phones. One public defender said the situation was “unacceptable,” noting that missed deadlines could severely impact clients’ cases. 

Patrick Orr, spokesperson for the State Public Defender’s Office, told the Idaho Capital Sun that the office worked with jail technology experts to fix the issue within a day of being notified.

This month, Idaho transitioned to a new state-funded public defense system meant to address concerns and lawsuits claiming inadequate public defense for those in the criminal justice system. However, attorneys told the Idaho Capital Sun the transition process has been troublesome. 

The overhaul has triggered a wave of public defender resignations in the state’s largest counties, raising concerns about a decline in the quality of public defense – the very concern the reform sought to address. In Idaho’s largest county, Ada, at least a dozen attorneys resigned in recent months, according to public records.  

The Idaho Capital Sun interviewed multiple current and former public defenders in Idaho, who asked to remain anonymous fearing retaliation. While some attorneys experienced pay cuts and left the profession, pointing to mismanagement and disorganization in the new system that they said could have been avoided, others received raises but still chose to leave — citing declining office morale, the loss in mentorship from experienced colleagues, and reduced resources compared to the previous county system. 

Though many vacant positions have been filled, according to Idaho Reports, phone issues and staffing losses are among the many issues faced amid Idaho’s overhaul to consolidate 44 county-level state public defender’s offices into one statewide office. 

Pay raises and pay cuts for public defenders

As part of the transition to a state-run system, the salary structure underwent significant changes.

According to the State Public Defender’s Office, 77% of Idaho public defenders received a salary increase, 7% of salaries remained the same, and 15% of employees received a pay cut. 

Orr said the new salary structure is based on length of service. 

“In the very short term, we have lost a handful of experienced attorneys in Ada, Canyon, and Kootenai counties, whose pay was reduced as part of our statewide salary structure,” Orr said. “That is hard – we wanted everyone to stay on. Losing any experienced public defender is not optimal. But it also opens up opportunities for attorneys in those offices to take on new responsibilities they didn’t have access to before.”

There were about 20 vacancies across the state open as of Friday, Orr said. This does not include attorneys who are contracted for their services.

Former and current public defenders told the Sun that pay cuts ranged from $5,000 to $40,000 per year, with many affecting experienced attorneys handling felony cases or qualified to work on capital punishment cases.

Eric Fredericksen, the lead of the State Public Defender’s Office, said the pay cuts were meant to equalize the salaries for the type of work being done across the state. 

While attorneys in Ada County earning $169,000 saw cuts down to $129,000, those in Bannock County, for example, saw raises from $89,000 to $129,000, Fredericksen said. 

What led to Idaho’s public defense reform?

In 2015, the ACLU of Idaho filed a lawsuit on behalf of indigent criminal defendants, Tucker v. Idaho, claiming Idaho’s public defense system was inadequate and violated low-income people’s right to counsel guaranteed under the Sixth Amendment. This prompted a series of legislative changes including:

• House Bill 735 in 2022, which changed public defense funding from counties to the state.
• House Bill 236 in 2023, which replaced the Public Defense Commission with a new state agency – the Office of the State Public Defender.

In February, an Idaho district judge dismissed the Tucker lawsuit, adding that “time will tell if the State will live up to the promises it made or if those are mere empty promises.” 

The challenges of turning 44 public defense systems into one

Current public defenders said many of the challenges under the new system could have been avoided if policies had been set up before the transition. 

“We either have no policies in place, or policies are written by people who lack a basic understanding of what services we provide,” a public defender told the Sun. “The attorneys that are staying who got a salary reduction stay here because they love the job, and we’re just scared for our clients.” 

That public defender said their caseload had increased by 50% following the departure of their colleagues, and the new case management system, which holds critical documentation for the clients they are defending, lacks up-to-date information on cases. 

“We still have hundreds, if not thousands of cases statewide that have not been entered into the case management system, making it nearly impossible to represent those clients in court or advise them properly,” the attorney said.

Orr said before the state took over public defense, each of Idaho’s 44 counties had different ways to enter case data. Additionally, each of the 14 counties that had institutional offices had their own ways of doing things. 

“We had to take all those different county systems and processes and combine them into a single system that works for the whole state – and makes public defense better,” Orr said. “That is a ton of work – and it’s a complex process to go through.”

Orr said the office has taken almost a year to create the new system, and it is working earnestly to improve the case management system for Idaho’s public defenders. 

Another frustration attorneys experienced was that there was not a policy in place for accessing translators – which was previously provided by the counties. This delayed the attorneys from being able to communicate with some of their non-English speaking clients, attorneys told the Sun. 

“We have to rely on interpreters to read police reports to clients, to relay plea offers, for clients to tell us their side of the story,” the attorney said. “We lost 100% access to interpreter services. There was a period of time where we just couldn’t do anything… These services should have been set up before the transition happened.”

Fredericksen said the office has since approved a number of requests for translators throughout the state.

While phone issues and translation issues have been resolved, current public defenders remain frustrated at the new system. 

“Thousands of criminal defendants are experiencing unnecessary delays in court, overworked and unprepared attorneys, and deprivation of critical services – all of which are fundamental to ensuring their constitutional right to effective assistance of counsel is protected,” an attorney told the Sun. 

Former public defender speaks out

Among those who left their job in public defense was Neil Price, a former felony-level trial attorney in Ada County who was certified to defend people against the death penalty. 

“I wanted to retire here,” Price told the Idaho Capital Sun.

Apart from getting a pay cut, Price said many of the issues in the new system were predictable, which led him to lose confidence in the leadership and eventually resign.

Similarly, other high-level public defense attorneys in Kootenai County have also left their jobs, the Coeur d’Alene Press reported, citing concerns about funding shortfalls in the system. Price said he saw those funding deficiencies early on, and questions about the transition “never really got answered.”

“Ada County was probably the leading office in the state, and now they have lost and continue to lose some very experienced people with a lot of institutional knowledge,” Price said, adding that he believes low-income defendants relying on experienced attorneys to represent them in court will be most affected.

State Public Defender remains optimistic

Despite the resignations, Fredericksen said he remains optimistic in Idaho’s new public defense system.

“Some of the attorneys that are coming out of law school and have been practicing for five or six years are just fabulous and years and years above what we would have seen 20 years ago,” he told the Sun. “I’m excited about just the talent that we have in the state for trial attorneys. We hire people that want to stand up in court and represent their clients, because we’re client-centered.”

Fredericksen said the office is recruiting attorneys across the Pacific Northwest. 

“We have a lot of people that are applying from Utah and Montana and Washington because they want to come over and be part of this,” he said. 

In the next legislative session, Fredericksen said the office is going to have a significant budget increase request.