County moves to hire public defender

Cheyenne County could have a public defender in place by the first of the year.

Paul Schaub, Cheyenne County Attorney, has said in the 20 years he’s worked in the county, there’s never been a public defender.

Instead, Cheyenne County judges currently appoint lawyers to represent individuals charged with crimes who can’t afford to pay for counsel – and the county takes care of the bill.

In recent years, the annual cost of paying court-appointed lawyers has grown. Last year, the county paid out nearly $350,000, according to numbers provided the county clerk last summer. As of June, the number already stood at $430,000 for 2015.

Concerned about the rising costs, county commissioners appointed a committee – composed of two practicing attorneys and one lay person – to examine creating a public defender position. Instead of paying numerous attorneys to defend clients who can’t afford lawyers, a public defender would be tasked with providing counsel in most cases.

On Monday, the members of the committee – Philip Kelly, Tom Oliver and Larry Nelson – presented their findings.

Oliver said it was the committee’s recommendation that the county put out a call for bids for the position.

“We visited with several other counties and looked at how they’ve approached this,” Oliver said.

Instead of creating a contract with a stated compensation rate, the committee suggested that interested attorneys should submit bids, he explained.

“I think our concept here is to advertise for the position and then provide them with a copy of the contract we’ve put together, then they can bid on that,” he said.

Oliver also suggested splitting the position between a public defender and a guardian ad litem for juveniles – a person appointed by the court to represent the best interests of a child in court proceedings.

“I’ve seen it work in some other counties and it works well,” he said.

The public defender would be responsible for defending criminal cases and the guardian ad litem would focus on cases that affect minors.

As part of the proposed contract, the public defender would be responsible for their own office space and support staff and would not be reimbursed mileage to the courthouse if they lived outside the county – something that court-appointed lawyers currently receive. However, the county would be responsible for the defender’s ongoing education.

Kelly said the goal of the committee is to have a public defender in place by Jan. 1, 2016.

When asked his thoughts on moving forward, Schaub said he had “no reservations whatsoever in [the committee’s] ability to render competent advice.”

Commissioners unanimously voted to approve the contract drawn up by the committee and invite bids for the position.