Iowa lawmakers to raise pay to defend those who can’t afford attorney

DES MOINES — Iowa attorneys would get paid more to represent impoverished criminal defendants as part of an effort to address a severe shortage that’s led to grueling caseloads and put the state's system for defending those who cannot afford a lawyer on the brink of collapse.

Iowa House and Senate lawmakers were poised Wednesday to approve a justice systems budget plan that will raise the pay of private attorneys who agree to represent indigent defendants by $5 an hour and provide $35 an hour for travel time, plus mileage, as some attorneys spend hours driving around Iowa to court hearings.

The budget bill includes an overall $250,000 increase for reimbursement to the Indigent Defense Fund for travel time claims.

“It’s the best thing that’s happened since about 1986 when the state assumed the responsibility of funding indigent defense,” Jim Carney, a lobbyist for the Iowa Bar Association, told lawmakers Tuesday during a subcommittee hearing.

The state faces a growing shortfall of private attorneys willing to contract with the state’s public defender’s office to represent indigent defendants.

Iowa Supreme Court Chief Justice Susan Christensen, in her annual Condition of the Judiciary address in January, told lawmakers “our federal and state constitutional obligation to provide indigent counsel is on the verge of snapping.”

Out of Iowa’s 5,000 full-time, active lawyers, fewer than 600 — roughly 12 percent — represent indigent criminal defendants, Christensen said.

That number is a decrease of almost 50 percent from the 1,100 lawyers who were taking court-appointed cases in 2014, according to the Iowa State Bar Association.

Christensen listed multiple examples of issues caused by the shortage: overworked court-appointed lawyers turning down cases, defendants having as many as five lawyers cycling through during their case, and lawyers facing extreme travel schedules.

“Lawyers, judges and court administration are scrambling to try and cover bases. Something has to give,” Christensen told lawmakers in January.

About 90 percent of those who face criminal charges in Iowa can’t afford to hire a lawyer and qualify for a public defender or court-appointed lawyer, according to the Office of the Iowa State Public Defender.

Rep. Brian Lohse, a Republican from Bondurant and a lawyer who chairs the House’s judicial budget committee, said Christensen’s address “really shed a light” on the issue for lawmakers.

“It made a big impact,” Lohse said. “ … Various members heard a lot from their home districts in regard to the need for and the crisis that’s really out there.”

Court reporter shortage

The chief justice also highlighted a shortage of court reporters that has been growing for multiple years.

The bill provides an increase of $3.1 million for general operations within the Judicial Branch, but does not provide specific funding to address the issue.

Iowa’s Judicial Branch has established a committee to look into the issue, and Christensen earlier this year said she hopes to have recommendations by early next year.

The positions are crucial to ensuring an accurate, verbatim official record of trials and other court proceedings. A lack of reporters has led to scheduling issues, causing hearings to be delayed or postponed.

“We’ll have to again tackle the funding amount next year, and hopefully we’ll be more successful in our negotiations” with the Senate and governor’s office, Lohse said.

Opioid settlement funds

Lawmakers also punted on deciding how to spend tens of millions of dollars resulting from settlements with pharmaceutical companies, distributors, pharmacies and others over the nation’s opioid crisis.

Iowa is eligible to receive up to $345 million over the next 18 years. The agreements call for funds to be used for prevention, harm reduction, treatment and recovery services.

“We need to get a handle on how we vet the various possibilities” for use of the funds to make sure lawmakers are not duplicating existing efforts and “that they’re going to be effective,” Lohse said.

“And that’s a conversation that will involve the attorney general, Department of Health and Human Services, law enforcement, Department of Public Safety and several others,” he said. “That’s our goal over the summer, to get that in place so we can hit the ground ready and be ready to appropriate some money next year to things that are going to be impactful.”

Democrats criticized Republicans for their unwillingness to help Iowans struggling with opioid addiction with the tools and support needed for treatment and recovery. That includes funding drug courts, staffing clinics, providing access to medically assisted treatment, supporting harm reduction efforts and providing support and services to those who suffer with addiction as well as mental illness.

“We have the funds to change lives, but we’re not doing that,” said Sen. Janice Weiner, D-Iowa City. “And we have the expertise in this state. Please, let’s use funds for Iowans who need it, and by extension their families.”

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