Public defense in Island County received a big boost Monday morning as county commissioners approved an amendment that increases funding going to the contracted law firm by nearly 50 percent.
The amendment passed by a 2-1 vote, which is unusual for the three Democratic commissioners who typically can reach a consensus on major issues.
The contract amendment became controversial last month after Prosecutor Greg Banks questioned the rationale for the large increase in funding, from $380,000 to more than $560,000 a year. Attorney Tom Pacher, who has the public defense contract, and the two Superior Court judges were critical of Banks for speaking out and claimed that he has a conflict of interest in the issue.
But on Monday, nobody directly discussed any of the issues Banks had publicly raised. Commissioner Angie Homola cast the sole vote against the contract. She requested that it be tabled for another week so she could get her questions answered. She voiced concerns about many issues, including how the contract could be changed if defense caseloads decrease or county revenues plummet.
“I think it deserves diligence,” she said.
But the other commissioners pointed out that county officials have been discussing the contract change for the last year.
“I am very concerned about delaying this any further …” Dean said. “I think it’s time to move forward and adopt the contract.”
Betty Kemp, general services administrator, gave a brief history and explanation of the contract amendment. Pacher won the contract for public defense services in 2006 with a bid of $360,000, which came with annual cost-of-living increases.
Since then, Kemp explained, Pacher’s attorneys have been required to do work not covered in the original contract. For example, an extra day was added to the District Court and a drug treatment court was added to Superior Court.
The county commissioners also adopted new standards setting limits for the number of cases defense attorneys can handle each year.
The increase in the contract will pay for a Superior Court attorney, a District Court attorney, a staff person, overhead costs and the cost of parity in compensation for current attorneys.
Pacher and others also have argued that more attorneys for his office will mean the county will need to hire outside “conflict attorneys” less often, saving the county a great deal of money. Pacher suggested that the savings could completely offset the increase in his contract.
Kemp said the county’s public defense administrator and budget director looked at the contract amendment and felt it was the best option.
“This decision is based not only on the best budget choice, but it maintains the high level of professionalism we receive from Mr. Pacher and his law office,” she said.
