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Kosciusko County Public Defender Board met Thursday, Aug. 13 to discuss an upcoming budget review and staffing changes.
The board will present a 9.69% budget increase at an upcoming budget review with the Kosciusko County Council Monday, Aug. 17. The increased budget will account for software subscriptions, contract lawyers, associated benefits, appeals and jury trials the board was not initially able to account for in its first year.
Kevin Deardorff, board member, was positive about the budget increase, saying that it was “not too bad” of an increase from the first year.
“We’re obligated to provide legal defense, and that’s the cost of it, so we’re having to request an additional budget,” said Chief Public Defender Jack Birch. “We had things like appeals that we didn’t contemplate, and there are a number of appeals. It is what it is.”
The board is also working to fill an attorney position after full-time attorney Will Kirkwood recently amicably decided to move back to private practice.
Birch has interviewed a few candidates to fill the full-time position. He is also considering temporarily switching the full-time position to one or more part-time positions because several interested attorneys are hesitant to leave private practices. Birch may also switch it to a contract position.
“I’m disappointed to see Mr. Kirkwood leave,” said Kosciusko Circuit Court Judge Matt Buehler. “He is a good young lawyer, and he’ll be tough to replace, but you’ll find somebody that’s right for that spot, I have no doubt.”
Birch would like to report by the next meeting the position has been filled. The position is currently not posted to the public.
In other business:
• Birch reported additional licenses have been acquired for Lightning Law, an electronic software that allows attorneys to communicate with their incarcerated clients. The agency’s attorneys can utilize this system more with additional licenses acquired. The contract was made in partnership with the Kosciusko County Sheriff’s Office.
• Deputy Chief Public Defender Tony Garza, Buehler and Birch, along with other judges, probation and community corrections employees, attended the national RISE26 conference July 20-24 on behalf of the public defender agency. The conference focused on problem-solving courts, best practices across the nation and treatment for people in the legal system, including those in drug, veterans and reentry courts. There were 7,000 attendees at the conference.
“We have ideas about things that we may implement,” Birch said. “We’re still talking about how to improve our processes, but it was a really good program.”
The board is also searching for a new non-attorney employee to handle administrative office work. Interviews start in the next week or two, and it will be officially posted to the public. The position may offer between $20 and $21.50 per hour with benefits.
• The agency had its first anniversary about six weeks ago and will be taking an afternoon for a team-building exercise soon.
“We’re progressing along,” Birch said. “Our reports have been pretty good even though we’re short-staffed.”
• The board is still working on coordinating a discovery program with the prosecutor’s office, including software options. Discovery is a pretrial process where opposing parties exchange evidence and relevant facts from the case. A software program would help make this process more efficient.
