Jackson County Chief Public Defender Alan Marshall came before the Jackson County Council last week to say his office plans on funding the salary of an open position to be in compliant with state guidelines.

He told the council at its May 18 meeting that he received a letter saying the public defender’s office was out of compliance with state guidelines due to the excessive caseloads that some attorneys have taken on.

Three attorneys in the public defender’s office had caseloads that amounted to between 118% and 162% of the total cases that the office has been handling. Two, Marshall said, were in compliance.

Marshall said the reason for increased caseloads has been an influx of Child in Need of Services filings in Jackson Superior Court II, which involves the cases of children removed from their homes because of abuse or neglect.

After losing a fifth attorney in the public defender’s office last year, Marshall said the office was able to deal with the heavy caseloads by paying the other four attorneys more.

Marshall proposed taking $19,886.48 out of the public defender’s fund, which consists of money collected through court fees and bonds, to add to the pay of a vacant attorney position and budget it for the future.

In the last year, Marshall said he had offered the job to no less than five people who turned it down.

Doing this, he said, would put the public defender’s office in compliance.

That appropriation will be made at the next county council meeting June 15.

Council President Dave Hall and Councilman Brian Thompson both thanked Marshall for his work in finding a solution to a problem he had been having.

Marshall said surrounding counties have been having similar issues and he’d been in communication with other attorneys to discuss the issue.

Thompson said he researched the issue and found the public defender’s office’s budget has increased 268% in the last 13 years.

To compare, in the last 13 years, Thompson said the sheriff’s department’s budget has increased 86% and the county commissioners budget has increased 92%.

Marshall said the public defender’s office was established in 2016 so there wouldn’t be data going 13 years back, and Thompson said the county had been covering the attorney fees for prisoners before the office was created.