FAYETTEVILLE -- Washington County justices of the peace on Thursday heard a request to increase the pay for public defenders to the same level as those in the Prosecuting Attorney's Office.
Leana Houston, chief deputy public defender, told the justices of the peace that lower pay for public defenders needed to be addressed.
Houston cited the county's Criminal Justice System assessment's review of the discrepancies in pay.
According to the assessment a lack of parity in pay between prosecution and public defense "creates a revolving door for public defense as attorneys look to do similar work for higher pay often with more resources."
Public Defender Denny Hyslip said in a letter to the committee that within the last year one attorney moved from the public defender's office to the prosecutor's office for more pay. Two other attorneys left for different jobs with more pay. In his letter, Hyslip listed one chief deputy public defender and 15 deputy public defenders on his staff.
"The loss of three attorneys within a year places the office in a continuous state of fluctuation," Hyslip wrote.
Blake Chancellor, another public defender, briefed the justices of the peace on conditions in the building housing the public defenders office at 123 N. College Ave., where a leaking roof and an inoperable elevator have been troubling the office. Chancellor said the elevator remains inoperable and the county needs to consider whether the cost of additional repair work outweighs the cost of a new elevator.
Chancellor also said the elevator problems put the county at risk of facing complaints under the federal Americans With Disabilities Act. Chancellor said the ADA requires that all persons have equal access to any public parts of the building and without an elevator the second floor offices are not accessible under the terms of the ADA. Chancellor said using downstairs space to accommodate people with disabilities is "a patch, not a solution" that would not shield the county from ADA complaints.
The Quorum Courts Finance & Budget Committee met Thursday to review 2022 budget requests from the County Assessor, Public Defender and five Circuit Court Judges.
The committee took no action on the budgets at Thursday's special meeting. Patrick Deakins justice of the peace for District 5 and committee chairman, has said he wants the panel to review all of the budgets from county elected officials and county departments before acting on the budget as a whole.
The Finance & Budget Committee has a regular monthly meeting on Aug. 10 and has two special meetings set for Aug. 24 and Aug. 31.
Deakins said he is still waiting on information about the cost of employee compensation for 2022.
Deakins said he wants to have reviewed all of the individual budget requests in advance of the regular monthly meeting of the Finance and Budget Committee meeting in September when the justices of the peace can start to consider the 2022 budget as a whole.