State & Local Government Policy, Business and Technology

Alaska House proposal would add cash to public defenders' budget to stave off crisis

Anchorage Daily News: A state House committee agreed Monday to hire more of the state attorneys that defend Alaskans too poor to hire their own lawyers, in an effort to avoid gridlock in the state's criminal justice system.

The House Finance Committee voted 7-4 to budget $1 million more for the state's public defender agency; the "yes" votes came from members of the largely Democratic House majority coalition.

The state's top public defender, Quinlan Steiner, warned last week that without the money, his agency would have to start trying to refuse new cases. His attorneys, he said, are already overworked, and their workload is expected to continue increasing next year after the state hires more prosecutors in response to a public outcry over crime.

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