Tag Archive | "public defender"
Public defender report sent to Supreme Court
The special master tasked with examining the Missouri State Public Defender System’s right to refuse cases in overloaded offices has sent his final report to the Missouri Supreme Court.
Continue reading...Public defenders may turn down cases
Wednesday, May 12, 2010
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At least nine public defender offices across the state have given notice that they may start turning down cases.
Continue reading...Nixon proposes slight cut for judiciary, increase for public defenders
Thursday, January 21, 2010
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Gov. Jay Nixon proposed a $170,000 reduction to the Missouri judiciary’s budget next year, as well as a $2 million increase to the state’s Public Defender System. The Fiscal Year 2011 budget was released last night along with Nixon’s State of the State Address in Jefferson City. Nixon’s proposals aren’t set in stone. The House [...]
Continue reading...Bar president names task force to tackle criminal justice funding
Thursday, December 10, 2009
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Missouri Bar President Skip Walther finalized a task force this week that will ponder solutions to ongoing resource problems for all parts of the criminal justice system. Two past bar presidents, several prosecutors and public defenders and one former lawmaker make up the Criminal Justice Task Force. The group will be expected to make a [...]
Continue reading...Supreme Court considers fallout from defenders refusing cases
Tuesday, November 3, 2009
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Faced with two cases focusing on the caseload crisis in the Missouri State Public Defender System, at least two judges on the Missouri Supreme Court gave a nod to the system’s financial straits. Judges Richard Teitelman and Michael A. Wolff acknowledged the financially strapped state of the state’s indigent defense system during oral arguments Tuesday [...]
Continue reading...New study of public defenders says they’re ‘guaranteed to fail’
Friday, October 23, 2009
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The latest independent study of Missouri’s public defender system reaffirmed its overloaded status and declared Missouri’s indigent defense options are “headed for disaster.” The report, released Friday morning, also highlighted a “backdoor method of case disposal,” where defenders decide a poor person isn’t eligible for indigent defense if they scrape together $500 for a bond. [...]
Continue reading...Nixon releases fraction of promised stimulus funds to public defenders
Thursday, October 22, 2009
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The state’s public defender system will likely receive only $500,000 of the $2 million in federal recovery funds allocated to the beleaguered system by the state Legislature. Gov. Jay Nixon’s budget office released the $500,000 on Oct. 15. Is it possible the governor will hand over the remaining $1.5 million? “It would say it’s not [...]
Continue reading...Nixon vetoes public defender caseload bill
Monday, July 13, 2009
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Gov. Jay Nixon has vetoed legislation that would have given public defenders greater control over their caseloads. Under the provisions of the bill, the director of the public defender system could notify the court that the public defender is unavailable. Any person who is eligible for services from the public defenders’ office would be placed [...]
Continue reading...VIDEO: Nixon undecided on public defender bill
Thursday, July 9, 2009
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Gov. Jay Nixon says prosecutors, judges and other groups have come out strongly against legislation revamping the state’s public defender system that would allow the system to establish a maximum caseload threshold. Nixon did not indicate whether he would sign or veto the bill. One of prosecutors’ main arguments is that the public defenders’ caseload figures aren’t what [...]
Continue reading...Public defender caseload law passes
Thursday, May 14, 2009
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The Missouri House has sent a bill to the governor allowing the Missouri State Public Defender System to regulate its caseload. The bill lets the system reject some cases when certain offices become overworked. The bill replaces an agency rule that was thrown out by the state Court of Appeals earlier this year. The House [...]
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Friday, February 4, 2011
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