Problem Solvers: Deschutes County DA, judge say public defender shortage solved locally, urge state changes

(Update: Adding video, comments by Gunnels, Presiding Judge Wells Ashby, Bend defense attorney)

BEND, Ore. (KTVZ) -- After nearly a year, local officials say Deschutes County is no longer in a public defender shortage that continues to leave thousands of defendants unrepresented across the state.

District Attorney Steve Gunnels told the Problem Solvers Tuesday he has been working with local court staff and attorneys to reduce the 150 defendants without representation as of last fall, by taking on more cases and bringing in more attorneys.

"We had people who were accused of child molestation, accused of child pornography possession. They wait in jail for seven days, and then they get released back to do whatever they were doing before," Gunnels said.

The county is one of few in Oregon that has resolved the issue, as over 3,000 defendants still remain unrepresented in other parts of the state. However, the district attorney tells the problem solvers that changes need to be made at the state level or the problem will persist.

Here's what we know: Over $90 million in added funding was approved by legislators to help with the crisis in 2023. But according to recent state data, other counties are seeing an 11% in unrepresented defendants.

"OPDC is saying that they're working extremely hard to get cases assigned to people. That's not that's not what those counties are seeing," the DA added.

The Oregon Public Defense Commission oversees a maximum acceptable caseload metric (MAC), setting the limit of cases public defenders can take on. It's something Gunnels and Deschutes County Circuit Court Presiding Judge Wells B. Ashby say is outdated.

In fact, they said that actually leaves court-appointed defense attorneys hitting the caseload cap partway through the year - but still being paid, when they no longer can take on new cases.

Gunnels said, "My preference would be that we go to 'pay by the case,' because that's what worked before, and we never had a shortage before."

Judge Ashby agrees: "We took oaths to do the work that people have put us in a position to do. And I don't want people to burn out. I want people to have quality representation. "

But public defense attorney Joel Wirtz of the nonprofit Deschutes Defenders says increasing attorneys' caseloads won't fix the bigger issue, of turnover: "The problem is, that was done in the past, and we had unethical attorneys taking a ton of cases and telling people, just plea out, take this deal, don't do your job."

"We need to have some additional capacity, meaning for, like Deschutes Defenders to add an attorney or an attorney and a half-time attorney to cover for when there is that turnover," Wirtz added.

But one thing all three agree on: More money is not the real answer.

Judge Ashby said, "If I was a legislator, I wouldn't give them a single dollar more until they are audited and can say, 'Hey, here's the money, here's how it's the most effective and efficient.'"

OPDC and legislators are working on Senate Bill 337 which would require 20% of public defenders be state-employed by 2031 and 30% by 2035.