The office of the Allegheny County Controller will audit the county’s system for providing legal representation for criminal defendants who cannot afford an attorney, Controller Corey O’Connor announced Tuesday.
Most criminal defendants who cannot afford an attorney, also known as indigent defendants, receive representation from the Office of the Public Defender. In the case of a conflict of interest, the Court of Common Pleas appoints and pays for an attorney in the Office of Conflict Counsel or in private practice.
“This is something that is important to each and every individual because everybody deserves a right to be defended,” O’Connor said.
The review will examine how the county assigns and compensates counsel, as well as how it administers and funds services for indigent defendants. It will also determine whether the county follows best practices laid out by the American Bar Association for indigent clients, and whether attorney assignments and workloads comply with established standards.
It’s the office’s third audit of the criminal justice system under O’Connor’s tenure: Earlier reviews have focused on operations at the county jail. He said it’s likely to be the county’s first audit of the provisions made for indigent defendants.
Outside court-appointed lawyers have advocated for more compensation in recent years. Hourly rates were increased slightly this past summer, but attorney Rob Perkins said the rates are still far below those paid to private attorneys and are capped depending on the offense and if the case goes to trial or not.
Perkins, who advocates for fairer compensation for court-appointed lawyers, called the past summer’s increase a first step, but added that defense funding was stagnant for 17 years prior. He said the current compensation system for outside attorneys unfairly limits their fees, meaning “they're not incentivized to provide zealous representation all the time.”
“Whenever you essentially hold the defense's arm behind their back by underfunding the system and mismanaging the system, then it's not a fair fight and too many lives are unfairly impacted and harmed,” he said.
Funding for local public defenders has also come under scrutiny in recent years. During budget talks in 2022, leadership in the office told County Council it had major problems with employee retention and replacement due to low salaries. The county’s budget for 2023 did increase funding for that office by 4 percent, though a proposal for a much larger increase of $4.7 million ultimately failed.
Still, the United Steelworkers, which represents public defenders, reached a deal with the county to increase salaries and improve working conditions. And the county’s proposed 2024 budget, which council will vote to approve Tuesday evening, includes about $13.5 million for the Office of the Public Defender, a nearly 14% raise from the previous budget.
Public defender offices are at a disadvantage in Pennsylvania, which has long been one of just two states in the nation where funding for indigent defense is provided at the county level. Gov. Josh Shapiro’s current-year budget provides funding for the offices, but release of the funds has been stalled by continued discord in Harrisburg.
O’Connor said the audit is necessary to help determine whether changes should be made to the local criminal justice system.
“I think this [audit] adds to a longer conversation about reforms and conversations that we can have in the county about making those changes and having numbers to back them up,” he added, noting that data produced by the audit could be helpful to incoming county executive Sara Innamorato.
O’Connor estimated the audit will be complete early next year.
