Public Defender Pleads For $445,000 Boost Asks Commissioners For More Money To Handle Office’s Heavy Caseload

Saying his office is in “crisis” due to an increasing caseload, the Spokane County public defender is asking commissioners for a $445,000 budget boost.

“We’re getting pretty close to desperate,” said Don Westerman. “I’m concerned that I’m going to have some attorneys either have nervous breakdowns or just plain walk out on me.”

It is the second year in a row Westerman has asked for an addition to his budget, which this year is $3.6 million. Last year, commissioners doled out an extra $350,000, a little at a time.

County commissioners plan to hear Westerman’s request next Thursday. He’ll ask for five more attorneys, three paralegals and a secretary.

Meeting with Westerman breaks a policy commissioners set earlier this year to hear no new budget requests until June, when accountants have a better handle on revenue. But the county is legally obligated to give Westerman enough money to defend people who can’t afford a lawyer.

“It is my hope that I’m never in the situation where I have to take legal action (against commissioners),” said Westerman.

For most of this decade, public defenders handled 11,000 to 12,000 cases a year. This year, like last, the number is expected to top 13,000.

Expenses mount when Westerman must hire outside attorneys to handle cases because of conflicts of interests. That happens when a witness in one case becomes the defendant in another, or vice-versa.

To cut those costs, Westerman recently spun off a second office with four attorneys who do nothing but handle cases the other 38 attorneys cannot. At other times, his attorneys avoid conflicts by swapping cases with city attorneys.

Westerman recently put a notice in a Spokane County Bar Association newsletter, asking attorneys to donate time to his office. But many attorneys already take some civil cases without charging and aren’t willing to add pro bono criminal defense work, Westerman said.

“I’ve had about four attorneys approach me, all laughing,” he said.

Commissioner Phil Harris said he’s sympathetic with Westerman’s budget problems.

“It’s not a case of poor management, it’s just that there’s so much bad crime going on,” said Harris, who hasn’t committed to giving Westerman more money.

Commissioner Kate McCaslin wants to know why Westerman recently sent three people to a Texas seminar on the death penalty. Airfare alone was about $400 apiece.

“If my office were in crisis, I’d be reluctant to send that many staff,” McCaslin said.

Westerman said each of the people who made the trip are defending accused murderers who may face the death penalty.

The American Bar Association recommends that such cases be assigned to attorneys who have attended a training seminar within the last year, he said, adding that the county could face malpractice charges if it doesn’t follow the guideline and a defendant is convicted.

Westerman’s request is part of a continuous dance among various branches of the justice system:

The public demands safer streets, so politicians hire more officers and pass stiffer laws. That means more arrests, and more money for prosecuting and defending the accused. Last year, county commissioners had to add an 11th Superior Court judge to keep pace.

If Westerman gets his money and defenders become less willing to plea bargain, more cases will go to trial, said Prosecutor Jim Sweetser.

In that case, Sweetser said he’ll need more money for the extra work.

Sweetser is not sympathetic to Westerman’s predicament.

“There’s a lot of parts of the justice system that need more money,” he said. “The public is expecting more bang for the buck.”

, DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: Graphic: An increasing caseload

MEMO: This sidebar appeared with the story: THE CLIENTS According to state law, counties must provide attorneys for defendants who: Earn less, after taxes, than 125 percent of the poverty level. That works out to about $10,000 a year for a single person, or about $20,000 a year for a family of four. Don’t have enough net worth and monthly income to cover attorney fees. Are involuntarily committed to mental institutions. Some defendants who don’t meet those qualifications get public defenders but are required to pay a portion of the cost.