Vacant positions prompt policy change in Luzerne County Public Defender’s Office

Due to vacant positions, Luzerne County Chief Public Defender Steven Greenwald has made a painful decision to stop providing representation for nonincarcerated citizens charged with misdemeanors.

His office is supposed to be staffed with 28 attorneys, including Greenwald, but eight positions are vacant, he said.

“It’s been a problem for years now and has gotten to the point where it’s not going to go away and is no longer sustainable,” Greenwald said. “I can struggle without two or three lawyers, but when we’re down eight, it’s just not possible to do the job properly.”

Greenwald said his efforts to recruit qualified attorneys have come up empty, and he has “no realistic expectations” of filling those vacant positions in the near future at the current pay rate.

Based on feedback, all but one of the attorneys who left have cited compensation as the reason, he said.

Full-time assistant public defenders start at $51,083 annually, while the compensation is $34,165 for part-time assistant public defenders, according to postings on the human resources department career opportunities section at luzernecounty.org.

Assistant public defenders and district attorneys are unionized, and Greenwald said their collective bargaining agreement expires the end of this year.

“I think this may be an opportunity for the county to recognize the need to begin to pay people what they’re worth and what they deserve to be paid,” Greenwald said, emphasizing he understands many other county departments also are struggling to recruit and retain staff.

With so many vacancies, remaining assistant public defenders have been forced to exercise “superhuman” efforts to juggle caseloads too large to properly and effectively provide representation, he said. The attorneys have an obligation to communicate with clients and thoroughly research and investigate their cases, and the pressure has become a “huge physical and mental burden” on them, he said.

They will now focus on felonies and handle misdemeanor cases only for those incarcerated, he said.

“This is a last-gasp effort to try to relieve the caseload so attorneys still there have at least approaching a proper amount of time to represent their clients,” Greenwald said.

Greenwald did not have a projection on the number of indigent residents who will be denied representation for misdemeanor cases.

He also does not know what impact it will have on the courts and obligation for the accused to have their cases adjudicated in a timely manner.

Greenwald still encourages income-eligible residents charged with misdemeanors to fill out applications seeking representation from his office because he is trying to track the new policy’s impact and maintain contact in case the policy changes.

The accused also should show up for court appearances, even without an attorney, so warrants are not issued, he said. He hopes none are pressured to waive hearings due to a lack of representation.

In light of the policy change, Greenwald is not certain the office is meeting its statutory obligation for public defense. The law states the office should be providing representation for misdemeanors and all cases where incarceration is a possibility, he said.

Greenwald said he has been discussing the misdemeanor halting plan with his staff and county management, describing it as a “last resort.”

“The work we do on behalf of our clients is important to us, and this is really, really heartbreaking for all of us,” he said. “We don’t want to do this.”

County Manager Randy Robertson said he reviewed the plan with Greenwald and court officials and will continue to meet with them to explore options.

In addition to compensation, a challenge is convincing new attorneys to remain in public service, Robertson said. Many use the assistant public defender and assistant district attorney positions as a stepping stone to obtain training and mentorship needed to secure better-paying jobs in private firms, Robertson said.