Legislator sees impact of court cuts

By Dan Nienaber
The Free Press

MANKATO October 11, 2008 12:57 am

— Several months after signing off on legislation that cut funding to Minnesota’s public defenders, state Rep. Tony Cornish had a chance to see how those cuts have taken a toll on the entire court system in Blue Earth County.
“I talked to a judge, I talked to a retired judge, I talked to a prosecutor and I talked to public defenders,” Cornish said a day after sitting through a session of morning arraignments. “I talked to them all and the general comment from all of them was our cuts slowed everything up.
“They might be able to handle it, financially, but it’s jamming things up. Our judicial system has to be faster.”
Cornish, R-Vernon Center, was invited to watch arraignment court by Krista Jass, 5th Judicial District chief public defender. Cornish said watching the first step in criminal court, where suspects make their first court appearance for criminal charges, was a new experience.
Fourteen of the people who appeared had incomes low enough to qualify for a public defender. It was a light day compared to some Mondays, Jass said. Eleven had been summoned to court. The remaining three clients had been arrested during the weekend and were having bail set so they could be released from jail.
Before the funding cuts, two public defenders met with clients before they were arraigned. The 5th Judicial District’s public defender staff was cut from 24 full-time attorneys to 20, Jass said. A total of six attorneys were cut in the 15-county district because some public defenders only work part-time hours while doing work for private law firms.
Now only one public defender is available to handle arraignments in Blue Earth County.
Richard Hillesheim was filling that duty Monday morning. It wasn’t his turn, but the attorney who had been scheduled had a court hearing in another county.
“It was four hours of meeting clients and trying to make the system work effectively,” Hillesheim said. “From my perspective, with just one person working, I feel totally swamped.”
The backup that’s created also puts a strain on judges, prosecutors, bailiffs and the deputies who transport prisoners from jail to court, Jass said.
It’s not just a problem during arraignments, she said. Other hearings also are put on hold while public defenders try to meet other daily obligations for multiple clients in multiple counties.
“These cuts impact the whole criminal justice system, not just public defense,” Jass said. “Our lawyers are often scheduled in two courts at once, or in two counties at once. In these cases, witnesses, victims, law enforcement, judges and other court personnel sit and wait for public defenders to come from their other court commitments.”
Judge Kurt Johnson, who was presiding over the arraignments, said he has seen how the cuts have increased his workload, and the workload for other judges.
When there were two or more public defenders meeting with clients, they were often able to work out plea agreements for some misdemeanor and low-level gross misdemeanor offenses, Johnson said. That took time because the public defenders would meet with their clients, talk to prosecutors, then go back to their clients to give them advice about any plea deal that had been offered.
It’s a process that can take more time now because the single public defender doesn’t have time to negotiate. He or she will advise clients to plead not guilty, then have another court date set, Johnson said. So dockets fill up more quickly, pushing scheduling for all types of hearings out to later dates.
“The whole process is slowed down,” Johnson said. “There’s one person up there, and he or she is overwhelmed. They don’t resolve as many cases. It clogs the calendar all the more.”
More cuts could be coming throughout the judicial system. The Minnesota Judicial Council, which oversees the operation of the state’s court system, is predicting the system will become more bogged down if a request for $54 million in additional funding for 2010-11 isn’t filled.
It’s a tall request when legislators will be facing major cuts due to a state budget shortfall that had been estimated at nearly $1 billion. That was before a sharp downturn in the national economy, which could push that number higher.
Cornish, who is a member of the House Public Safety Policy and Finance Committee that recommended the public defender cuts, said he stands by his decision. He estimated the state shortfall has reached $2 billion.
“I haven’t changed my mind at all, but what it did is probably make me think for the future,” he said.
John Branstad, the Democrat challenging Cornish for his House seat, also said finding a funding solution will be difficult.
“Cuts aren’t made without repercussions,” he said. “It is going to be a very challenging environment. When you have limited pie, any increase or decrease for one piece has an impact on another piece.”
Despite budgeting challenges, the court system should be a funding priority, Jass said.
“We are now at a crucial point in the funding of public defense and the courts, which are basic systems of government,” she said. “Constitutional rights, access to justice and the functioning of a fair criminal justice system are all threatened by a lack of adequate funding.”

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