- While State Defender André de Gruy said this year’s appropriation “wasn’t bad,” two line items came up short.
The Mississippi Office of the State Public Defender received a slight bump in funding for the upcoming Fiscal year 2027, with the office’s budget increasing by 2.7% over last year.
The office, which defends the Magnolia State’s indigent defendants, will receive $5.4 million for the new fiscal year which starts July 1.
“I’ve been doing this a long time; we have good years and not so good years. This year wasn’t bad,” André de Gruy, State Defender, told Magnolia Tribune.
The office’s general fund appropriation covers 25 employees at the OSPD.
State Defender de Gruy explained that the office’s general fund appropriation funds the State Public Defender Office’s core function. The office handles capital defense cases, appeals, and training. In addition, in 2016, family defense in youth court protection matters was added to the office’s duties. Two years ago, the Legislature authorized the establishment of a youth defender program.
While de Gruy said this year’s appropriation “wasn’t bad,” two line items came up short.
“We are a little disappointed that we didn’t get our full ask for the Regional Rural Pilot [Program] or to support Hinds County Public Defender. Both projects were budgeted at less than the state is spending on prosecutors,” he said.
The FY 2027 funding bill sets aside $36,000 for the Hinds County Public Defender’s Office. The cash-strapped central Mississippi office sought additional funds from the county in early February, explaining then that it is losing attorneys due to low pay.
The legislative spending bill did put $578,000 aside for the office’s rural public defense pilot program.
“The pilot [program] is going to tighten its budget, but they are committed to making it work,” de Gruy said.
The program aims to counter the growing problem of the lack of effective counsel in rural Mississippi, de Gruy said.
“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,” he told Magnolia Tribune last February.
The pilot program is currently running in the 5th Circuit District, an area which has been referred to as a lawyer desert. That district includes Attala, Carroll, Choctaw, Grenada, Montgomery, Webster, and Winston counties.
Last year, the pilot program asked for $838,000 in state funds.
