Public defender office has backlog of 663 cases in Billings
BILLINGS, Mont. (AP) — A judge in Billings ordered the director of the state's public defender office to appear before him next month to explain why her office is failing to assign public defenders to Billings-area cases in a timely manner and why she shouldn't be held in contempt of court.
District Judge Donald Harris set a Sept. 13 hearing for Rhonda Lindquist, The Billings Gazette reported.
The director of the Office of Public Defender is required to ensure that qualified attorneys are immediately assigned after a judge assigns cases to the public defender's office, according to Harris' order, which was signed Tuesday.
At times, public defenders have a conflict of interest in representing a defendant. When that happens, their case is assigned to the agency's Conflict Office to hire an outside attorney. The managing attorney for the Conflict Office told Judge Harris that as of July 31, his office had a backlog of 663 unassigned cases.
State law requires the Office of Public Defender to immediately assign a lawyer to any case in which a judge designates the office as counsel. Harris said the office has not been able to meet this obligation for months, which has caused "significant delays in conducting court proceedings and jeopardizes the administration of justice."
A spokesperson for the Office of the Public Defender did not immediately respond to a request to learn how many cases statewide are awaiting assignment to a public defender or how many public defender positions are open. The state's jobs website lists postings for three public defenders and an appellate defender.
"OPD is actively working to ensure clients receive representation in a professional, competent and timely manner," the state office said in a statement issued Friday. "This situation is a priority, and Director Lindquist plans to be in Billings on Monday to continue working towards solutions."
In the final days of the 2021 legislative session, the Office of Public Defender asked lawmakers to appropriate an additional $850,000 to the office — $750,000 of which would be used to hire contract attorneys for what was then 100 unassigned cases.
The Office of the Public Defender's trial division administrator, Brian Smith, said the state pays contract attorneys $56 an hour and hoped the additional money could be used to increase that pay to $75 an hour. The contract attorney rate for federal cases is $150 an hour, Smith told lawmakers.
The Legislature did not act on the additional funding request after already giving the office $400,000 for increased caseload costs.