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State indigent defense task force: Dallas public defender caseloads too high

John Wiley Price and the Dallas County Commissioners Court don't appear fazed by the news, but the Texas Task Force on Indigent Defense today issued a report (pdf) analyzing the Dallas public defender office appellate division and caseloads at the state's largest PD office.Countering Price's critique, the TFID found the appellate division cost the county $72 per hour of billable work compared to the $100 paid to private attorneys. Local officials countered that they don't pay private attorneys for holidays and said PDs bill more hours per case than private lawyers. Quien sabe?According to the TFID, the Dallas appellate division handles 60 cases per year per attorney,while the Bexar County appellate division handles 35 per attorney. The number of cases assigned to the Dallas appellate division has been increasing every year, said the report...continue to full post

Full post as published by Grits for Breakfast on July 22, 2008 (boomark / email).