Maine lawmakers approve emergency funding for public defender system

By Kevin Miller, Maine Public

State lawmakers gave final approval March 18 to a bill that provides $13 million in emergency funding to Maine’s public defender system.

Sen. Anne Carney, a Cape Elizabeth Democrat, said the Commission on Public Defense Services reduced the backlog of defendants who are waiting for a court-appointed lawyer by more than 75% last year. But Carney told her Senate colleagues that without additional funding, the commission won’t be able to pay the private attorneys who still take on many of these indigent cases.

The ACLU of Maine sued the state four years ago, alleging the state was violating the constitutional rights of indigent defendants under the Sixth Amendment by failing to provide them with adequate legal counsel in a timely fashion. That lawsuit is still pending.

“Despite recent progress, Maine’s capacity to uphold its Sixth Amendment obligation will again be threatened” without additional funding, Carney said.

The bill will provide an additional $13 million to the commission through June plus another $9 million for the fiscal  year that begins on July 1. The Senate voted unanimously to send the bill to Gov. Janet Mills’ desk days after the House voted to approve the measure.

A spokesperson for Mills said the governor plans to sign the bill. Mills had included $25 million for the public defender system in her supplemental budget proposal to the Legislature.

This story appears through a media partnership with Maine Public.