For nearly 20 weeks, certain lawyers, paralegals, psychologists, interpreters, court reporters and investigators were not paid. Criminal defense attorneys say it’s a constitutional crisis.
Retired District Judge Merlin Wheeler during a hearing Monday admonished the state’s public defense agency for allowing “pretty, petty” infighting to disrupt a capital murder case.
Conflict raging within the state public defense agency has sidetracked a capital murder case while competing factions wrestle for control.
Heather Cessna is resigning as executive director of the state public defender’s office after years of warning apathetic legislators about the constitutional crisis they created by persistently underfunding her agency.
Kansas is facing a crisis when it comes to defending accused criminals who cannot afford their own attorneys. A shrinking number of rural attorneys is making it harder. If the problem is not addressed there is a risk that courts will throw out criminal cases.
Public defenders in Kansas face borderline unethical caseloads, lower pay rates than peers and now the possibility of even less funding to address attorney shortages.
A top public defender in Kansas says the state is at a crisis point on the 60th anniversary of a landmark U.S. Supreme Court case that guarantees legal representation for those who can’t afford to hire an attorney.
Kansas public defense is at a crisis point, officials say, with overworked attorneys struggling to provide adequate services in the midst of a worker shortage.
Celia Llopis-Jepsen / The Kansas News Service
The Kansas Legislature didn’t approve money for additional public defenders, but it did support pay raises.
