Oregon Gov. Tina Kotek made a request for changes to a state Senate bill that would overhaul Oregon’s public defender system, according to a letter she sent to the state Senate Committee on Rules.
Senate Bill 337 would move the Office of Public Defense Services—the state agency responsible for public defenders—out of the judiciary department and into the executive branch. It would also change how Oregon provides lawyers to people who can’t afford them. Instead of contracting with private defense firms, the state would hire its own public defenders, who would be state employees.
No single person or entity would have the authority to hire and fire the people in charge of the public defense agency, according to the bill.
Kotek is against this rule, saying that if the office is in the executive branch, the governor must have the authority to hire and fire the agency’s head and to remove its commissioners to achieve “true accountability.”
She said that if public defense is in the executive branch, its leaders must be treated the same as other agency heads who serve under the governor.
“National standards point governments toward how best to implement structures to answer that question,“ he said. ”Number one is creating an independent commission.”
In a May 19 letter to the state lawmakers, the Public Defense Services Commission said it would oppose the bill if Kotek’s requested amendments were approved.
Issues for Years
Oregon’s system for providing lawyers to criminal defendants who can’t afford them has shown cracks for years, but case backlogs significantly worsened during the coronavirus pandemic. The public defender shortage has overwhelmed the courts, frustrated defendants, and affected crime victims, who experts say experience added trauma when cases are dismissed or take longer to be resolved.In 2019, the nonprofit and nonpartisan Sixth Amendment Center completed a report that the Oregon Legislature funded. It found Oregon’s public defense system, housed within the state’s judicial branch, was unconstitutional and structurally flawed.
While running for governor, Kotek praised the Sixth Amendment Center’s work, but she is now moving against some recommendations in the report.
Democrat state Rep. Paul Evans, who co-chaired the public defense work group with Democrat state Sen. Floyd Prozanski, said he introduced the latest amendments because, even before her letter, the governor’s staff was clear with him and other lawmakers that Kotek did not want to add public defense to her office’s responsibilities.
“The governor has enough messes that she’s trying to work on, and she didn’t want this in the executive branch,” Evans said. “Because it has been such a challenge, she wants a little additional capacity to be able to push people to do their jobs.”
Evans told OPB that he’s become frustrated with the bill’s proposed changes after working on the bill for months, and is disappointed with the number of people charged with crimes going without a public defender.
“I am angry, very angry,” Evans said, “we can’t even make sure that the justice system is providing defense for people when we’re charging them with crimes. There are very few things that are more fundamental to trust in government.”
Public Defense Services Commission member Jennifer Nash told fellow commissioners on May 18 to oppose any move that would put the agency under the governor’s office, OPB reported.
“My feeling is we ought to oppose the move, period,” Nash said. “We know the governor doesn’t want us, so let’s grant her wish.”
