by Bradley Parsons
Staff Writer
Leaders for both the State Attorney’s Office and Public Defender’s Office are hoping some face time with state legislators will boost their budget in 2006.
Both Public Defender Bill White and State Attorney Harry Shorstein plan to hit the road to Tallahassee in the coming months to lobby for increased funding that both say is necessary to keep up with growing demands on Florida’s criminal justice system.
The workload in Florida’s criminal courts is expanding, they say, much more quickly than their staffs, resources or their offices’ salaries. Most troubling, they say, is that they’re falling behind during years when state sales tax revenues are running high and Florida’s tourism economy appears to be rebounding.
“We went through four years in a row where we were cut, so we’re coming out of that phase,” said White. “It’s kind of like watching a deer go through a python. You see that there’s this lump of money going through, and for a couple years, you see an opportunity to get some things funded.”
White’s wish list includes funding for capital improvements in his office and for a few extra hires to staff an early response team and to keep up with the recent addition of a Duval County judge.
Adding to the County Court bench means that White will have to cycle 12 public defenders among 15 County Court judges. White would prefer to match one of his attorneys to each judge.
“There’s an advantage to that in that you’re able to provide some consistency in representation. You’re able to match up your schedule to the judges. It’s a more orderly process,” said White.
White said he’s seen an increase statewide in the number of cases that need to be retried because a defendant claims ineffective representation. If new judge hires continue to outpace hires at the Public Defender’s Office, that’s a trend that’s bound to increase, he said.
“Right now I have public defenders that are going to have to withdraw from cases to avoid providing ineffective counsel,” said White. “It’s kind of a pay-me-now or pay-me-later scenario, because those cases that come back tend to be retried so you have the state trying a case twice at double the expense.”
Shorstein expected to get about $20.7 million from the state to run his office. Now he’s expecting to make out a little better than that, but his office could still use help in the form of a legislative appropriation, he said in an earlier interview.
Neither local office is lobbying for the funding individually. They’re both pitching into a statewide effort aimed at boosting funding for the public attorneys in all 20 judicial districts.
White lobbies through the Florida Public Defender Association, although he said he’s hoping to make his case personally to targeted legislators. White’s work starts locally with State Reps. Dick Kravitz and Mark Mahon and Sen. Steven Wise.
White estimated that the state’s public defenders are underfunded by about $200 million. The FPDA isn’t expecting to recoup all of that, but White said a $15 million appropriation would allow the state offices to make necessary staffing additions.
As for Shorstein, he said he’s handicapped by his status as an elected office holder. Since he’s barred from making political contributions, Shorstein said his never-ending lobbying campaign tends to fall on deaf ears in Tallahassee.
“All 20 state attorneys try to get the message to the legislature, but it can be very frustrating. We’re public servants; we can’t contribute to political campaigns,” he said. “It’s like trying to get in to see the Pope or God or something.”
Both Shorstein and White also quibble with the way the state splits up the taxpayer dollar between their offices. State funding is dictated by a 20-year-old formula that’s supposed to pay the SAO $2 for every $1 sent to the Public Defender’s Office.
Instead of 50 cents on the dollar, White would like to receive 70 cents for every dollar given to the SAO. Shorstein says the SAO has duties that the Public Defender’s doesn’t and thinks his office should receive a greater share of state funding.