County Council votes 4-2 in favor of Public Defender appropriation
BEDFORD — The Lawrence County Council approved Chief Public Defender Bruce Andis' request for an appropriation of $50,000 in a 4-2 vote during Tuesday evening's meeting in the Lawrence County Courthouse.
Andis requested to have additional funds available to pay contract lawyers for their work.
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The request was eventually approved in a contested 4-2 vote, despite the issues raised by Council President Scott Smith and other council members. Council members Rick Butterfield and Jeff Lytton voted against the motion.
The council questioned why Andis needed the appropriation in the first place, contending that these deficits should have been appropriately accounted for during the budgeting process last year.
"Isn't it the job of the Public Defender Board to establish what salary should be presented to the council at budget time?" Smith asked. "We set a budget for that and we are continually faced with a problem or you're faced with the problem through the year with staffing and we have to give out additional appropriations. I don't understand why there isn't more of a better presentation or discussion at that time to become compliant where we don't have a continuing problem like this."
Andis explained that the Public Defender Commission places restrictions on the number of cases each public defender can manage at the same time. A lack of competitive pay and COVID-19 disruptions are other key factors that have depleted the number of public defenders in the county, according to Andis.
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"So this is the same problem we have been talking about for a year now, " Andis said. "Because we are short on attorneys, we get maxed out on caseloads."
Andis was appointed to lead the Public Defender Agency in 2019. He has been working at the agency since 2012. Tim Sledd will officially take over as chief public defender in June, with Andis serving as deputy public defender until his retirement in September.
Lawrence County is a member of the Public Defender Commission, which enables participating counties to be compensated through the Public Defense Fund. The Lawrence County Public Defender Agency began operating on Oct. 1, 2010, to provide legal representation to indigent defendants and clients.
The county council has had growing concerns with the agency's climbing budget and repeated appropriation requests.
The total proposed 2022 budget for the Public Defender Agency was $1,017,989. However, the final budget approved by the Lawrence County Council came out to $896,053.
CASA
Court Appointed Special Advocates Director Rich Kosmala asked the county council for permission to hire a new contract worker. The position is funded through the CASA Wellness Grant for a total of $35,000 for the next 12 months.
The position focuses on working to reduce the waiting times for children who are registered in the county's CASA program and who are waiting for CASA volunteers. It is funded through a state grant that is provided by Indiana's CASA office.
The council approved the request.
Community Corrections
Chief Probation Officer Nedra Brock-Fleetwood presented several grants and transfers for the county council to approve. The largest total, $89,461.48, was for the JDAI grant. The council also gave the green light for the Juvenile Community Corrections Fund 1126 for a total of $57,226.
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A sum of $14,842 was approved for the Lawrence Superior Court I Problem Solving Court for account 9151. Additionally, Supreme Court Grant 9164 ($9,745) and Community Corrections-Indiana Superior Court PSC Grant Fund 9165 ($8,000) were unanimously approved.
Other business
The council approved a budget of $49,384 for the Drug Free Community program Hoosier Uplands is leading.
Nick Webb, who works as the vice president of commercial member services at Hoosier Hills Credit Union, was appointed to the Bedford Public Library Board of Trustees.
Prosecutor Sam Arp ended proceedings by reviewing his department report with the council.
This article originally appeared on The Times-Mail: County Council votes 4-2 in favor of Public Defender appropriation
