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MO public defenders will begin refusing clients

By Gideon

And the merry go round continues: Beginning this week, public defender offices across Missouri will be able to refuse new clients as they try to deal with huge backlogs of cases. The Missouri Public Defender Commission approved a policy in July that allows local offices to opt out of new cases if they exceed maximum caseload capacity for three consecutive months. Offices in Springfield, Ava, Jefferson City and Columbia will be the first to begin enforcing the policy Wednesday. The first types of clients to go unrepresented will likely be people accused of probation violations or those charged with certain collections and traffic crimes. Private attorneys who can take cases for free may take up some of the slack, but it’s not known what effect the shift will do to an already overburdened court system...continue to full post

Full post as published by Public Defender Stuff on October 18, 2008 (boomark / email).