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- The program’s goal is to reduce the caseloads of local public defenders, giving more time to visit clients, conduct investigations, negotiate cases, and prepare for trial.
Given the low number of lawyers in the state, the Mississippi Office of State Public Defender (OSPD) has asked the Legislature to fund a pilot program to better represent indigent defendants.
“Mississippi doesn’t have enough lawyers to meet the constitutional mandate for legal counsel in every criminal case,” said State Defender Andre de Gruy. “Lawyer shortages are most critical in rural areas. Even where there is a lawyer, the lawyer doesn’t have the time to dedicate to each client.”
This often means delays in case dispositions and, in too many cases, unnecessary jail stays, he said.
Finding a solution, beginning in rural Mississippi
As one of the most rural states in the nation, 67 of Mississippi’s 82 counties have a population of less than 50,000 people. Eleven of the 23 Circuit Court Districts are comprised of only rural counties. The remaining districts have one mid-size town of 50,000 to 100,000 people, but those districts are “exceptionally large geographically,” the OSPD states.
The solution, according to de Gruy, is a pilot program in the 5th Circuit District, often referred to as a legal desert. That district includes Attala, Carroll, Choctaw, Grenada, Montgomery, Webster and Winston counties.
The idea came about last summer. Since then, the OSPD has been meeting with the Deason Criminal Justice Reform Center at Southern Methodist University’s Dedman School of Law in Dallas. After collaborating with the Deason Center, OSPD took the idea to the Governor’s Office and began site selection.
During that process, the team looked at a combination of factors. OSPD reached out to Judge Joseph Loper of the 5th Circuit to explain the initiative. The judge invited the OSPD to Carroll County, one of the most rural counties in Mississippi,
“We’ve now made site visits across the district meeting with defense attorneys, prosecutors, judges at all levels, court clerks, sheriffs and jailors, community activists and elected officials. So, far we’ve received nothing but good questions that helped us improve our plan and encouragement,” De Gruy said.
What the Pilot Program would do
A three-page proposal OSPD presented to legislators earlier this session said the pilot program will “reduce the caseloads of local public defenders, giving them more time to visit their clients, conduct investigations, negotiate their cases, and prepare for trial.”
To protect local lawyers, counties and municipalities that receive pilot program services must continue to pay public defenders at current contract rates, the proposal outlines.
The pilot program would employ four full-time attorneys, an investigator, and an administrative assistant. Lawyers will handle felony cases from arrest to disposition and any related misdemeanors, he said.
“Projects like this have been implemented in places like west Texas and Kansas. We want to test the concept of regional defense here and develop a model for the state,” said de Gruy.
To ensure accountability of taxpayers’ money, the pilot program will collect and report reliable data over a three-year period, to produce a plan for best practices in rural Mississippi. Performance data will include:
• Number of clients served;
• Number of arrested people who have counsel at initial appearance;
• Number of attorney-client contacts via calls, meetings, jail visits, letters, or emails;
• Average days between arrest and charging outcome, including information, indictment, or nolle prosequi;
• Number of contested pretrial proceedings;
• Number of cases with investigator assistance.
Where that proposal stands
Currently, the proposal request for the $838,000 pilot program is in the hands of the Legislature’s Appropriations Committees. The OSPD is “begging” lawmakers to insert the request into HB 1763, the appropriation funding for OSPD. It currently awaits action in the Senate Appropriations Committee.
State Defender de Gruy believes the pilot program will be discussed during conference as the legislative process continues between the two chambers, which is slated for the last weekend of March.
If approved and signed by the Governor, the measure will allow de Gruy to contract legal service providers, similar to what the office does with Family Defense.
Daniel Tyson
