Unlike other public defenders’ offices across the state, the Barren County branch has not reduced its caseload in response to budget cuts and a growing client base.
“We are not at that point yet,” said Greg Berry, with the area Department of Public Advocacy.
Berry added that standards set for rural communities such as Glasgow and Barren County included not taking on more than 400 new cases per attorney per year.
Right now, Berry said, attorneys are averaging about 330 new cases per year.
Reducing caseloads, however, is something other public defenders in Kentucky are looking to accomplish.
On June 30, the DPA and Louisville and Jefferson County Public Defender Corporation filed a lawsuit seeking permission to decline additional indigent clients when representing them would create excessive caseloads.
DPA director Ernie Lewis said the General Assembly failed to provide sufficient funding this year to pay for public defenders. He said the jobs of up to 60 trial attorneys will be cut as a result.
Elizabethtown’s DPA office may see future vacancies go unfilled because of reduced funding. The attorneys will also no longer defend clients charged with contempt in child support cases or those arrested on mental inquest warrants.
The lawsuit also calls for judges to appoint alternative attorneys who would be paid by the state when caseloads force public defenders to turn clients away.
Berry said the state DPA standards require them to no longer provide conflict attorneys for cases.
These individuals come from the private bar association in cases where two or more defendants are charged in reference to the same crime. A conflict could arise if one of the defendants points the finger at the other one, according to Berry.
State DPA offices handle between 3,000 to 5,000 conflict cases a year at a cost of more than $1 million, Berry said.
“With the budget cuts that are happening this new fiscal year, DPA can no longer afford to pay that,” he said.
The Associated Press and The News-Enterprise contributed to this report.
Local News
DPA caseloads remain level
- Local News
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UPDATE 3:05 p.m.: Fatal wreck on Burkesville Road
A Summer Shade man was identified as the driver in a fatal crash on Burkesville Road early Saturday morning.
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Jail staff challenges Ober’s report
A long list of allegations made by a private investigator against the Barren County Detention Center is being challenged by a majority of the jail employees, who say they have not witnessed anything illicit.
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BBBS honors volunteers Bell, Click
There’s no doubt about it. Tamara Click and Price Bell love spending time with their “little sister and little brother.”
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Magistrates defend decision
Almost a month after a private investigator presented his summary report about the Barren County Detention Center and nearly five months since the initial vote for an investigation, the members of the Barren County Fiscal Court are standing by their decisions.
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Park, students form partnership
Barren County Middle School and officials from Mammoth Cave National Park (MCNP) began a partnership in 2009 through a 21st Century Community Learning Center grant, according to a district news release.
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Cemetery dedication planned Sunday
On Sunday, a dedication ceremony culminating efforts of several concerned citizens who restored the cemetery will take place at 2 p.m. at the D.F. West Cemetery on Ky. 70 near Hiseville.
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No swimming allowed at lake for Memorial Day
Don’t visit Barren River Lake this Memorial Day weekend and expect to go swimming.
- 2:10 AFTERNOON UPDATE: Hart Co. man arrested for trafficking
- 9:03 a.m. Morning Update: Glasgow firefighters and Barren-Metcalfe EMS respond to wreck with injuries
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Late Night Update: Investigation continues regarding injured teen
Very little is known about the circumstances surrounding a 15-year-old Barren County boy who was found seriously injured and lying in a ditch alongside his bicycle on Dripping Springs Road late Monday night.
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UPDATE 3:05 p.m.: Fatal wreck on Burkesville Road
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