The agency representing attorneys who defend the poor in criminal court asked lawmakers to accept an amended request for the next budget cycle. The Office of the Territorial Public Defender said more funds are needed to help their staff manage its caseload of indigent clients.
Chief Public Defender Julie Smith-Todman’s request was met with one from Budget, Appropriations, and Finance Committee Chair Sen. Donna Frett-Gregory. The committee chair asked for further information about the agency’s revenues from renting office space.
The public defender’s office requested $6.34 million as part of Gov. Albert Bryan Jr.’s fiscal year 2025 spending plan. “So you’re asking for an additional $1.32 million?” Frett-Gregory asked.
The chief concurred. Most of the extra money would supply salaries for two new attorneys joining the St. Croix staff. The rest would be used to pay for expert witnesses needed by the defense at upcoming trials.
If the V.I. Justice Department could use expert witnesses, the public defenders should also be able to. “The key to a fair process is parity in funding,” Smith-Todman said.
Committee Vice Chair and Senate President Novelle Francis asked why St. Croix’s public defender caseload appeared higher than that of the St. Thomas and St. Croix districts — 648 pending cases on St. Croix as opposed to 372 on St. Thomas.
Some of it had to do with the COVID-19 pandemic, Smith-Todman said. The court suspended in-person hearings and trials, causing backlogs. St. Thomas courts were the first to resume once the emergency subsided, she said.
Francis also questioned the agency’s outstanding vendor payments. Public Defenders Office Accountant Ronald Moorhead said their only overdue bill belonged to the Water and Power Authority.
But, he said, they were working it down. Frett-Gregory asked what funds they were using.
Rent money, the testifiers said; half of the WAPA bill was already paid and an installment plan was secured for the rest. The agency’s building on St. Croix houses two rent-paying tenants.
The chairwoman frowned. The building on St. Croix was furnished by the V.I. government, she said. If the public defender’s office is raising revenue by charging rents, part of that money should go towards offsetting the budget request.
But Frett-Gregory said providing legal representation to indigent defendants is necessary. The committee would consider the amended request.
The administrators at the public defender’s office were asked to submit updated personnel listings, project the new attorney and staff positions needed, supply a breakdown of operating expenses and one for different budget categories, submit a maintenance budget, and provide more information about the cost of training attorneys and staff.
