All but 1 Idaho county asks for public defender grants
Thu., Aug. 4, 2016
BOISE – All but one county in Idaho has applied for additional state money to help pay public defenders.
The Idaho Press-Tribune reported that the Idaho Public Defense Commission on Tuesday met to discuss how to split the $5.4 million in new funding made available by the Legislature for public defenders. Previously public defense offices have only been funded by county commissions.
Benewah County is the only county that did not apply for the grant and some of the 43 other counties applied for as much as $500,000.
Officials say if the state were to allot each applying county the maximum amount of money it requested or is eligible for, it would cost about $3.6 million, which is within the commission’s budget.
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