Agenda

Return

C. 35

To:	Board of Supervisors
From:	Ellen McDonnell, Public Defender
Date:	July 26, 2022

Contra

Costa

County

Subject:

Add four (4) Deputy Public Defender II Positions to the Public Defender's Office

APPROVE	OTHER
RECOMMENDATION OF CNTY ADMINISTRATOR	RECOMMENDATION OF BOARD COMMITTEE

Action of Board On: 07/26/2022

APPROVED AS RECOMMENDED

OTHER

Clerks Notes:

VOTE OF SUPERVISORS

AYE:

John Gioia, District I Supervisor
Candace Andersen, District II Supervisor
Diane Burgis, District III Supervisor
Karen Mitchoff, District IV Supervisor
Federal D. Glover, District V Supervisor

Contact:

Erica Ellis Zielinski, 925-335-8093

I hereby certify that this is a true and correct copy of an action taken and entered on the minutes of the Board of Supervisors on the date shown.
ATTESTED: July 26, 2022
Monica Nino, County Administrator

BY:	, Deputy

RECOMMENDATION(S):

ADOPT Position Adjustment Resolution No. 26002 to add four (4) full-time Deputy Public Defender II (25VA) (represented) positions at salary plan and grade JD5 1872 ($9,208 - $11,193), effective July 27, 2022, and cancel one (1) part-time Deputy Public Defender - Fixed Term (25WB) position number 17812 at salary plan and grade JDX 2197 ($8,685 - $9,336), effective December 31, 2022.

FISCAL IMPACT:

This action will result in an additional annual cost of approximately $712,271. There are savings from a new interdepartmental agreement that will now fund a previously General Funded attorney, and anticipated savings from the Conflicts Program contract that will cover part of this increase in cost. The County Administrator's Office will return to the Board mid-year to adjust the Public Defender's budget to appropriately reflect these new costs.

BACKGROUND:

BACKGROUND: (CONT'D)

0in">The Public Defender’s Office represents indigent individuals charged with crimes in local criminal courts. Legal obligations have expanded dramatically due to criminal legal reform measures that mandate increased obligations for attorneys throughout the criminal process, including mental health litigation, robust sentencing preparation, and post-conviction litigation. Additionally, voluminous electronic discovery and complicated forensics have increased the complexity of attorney case preparation and time spent on each case. As a result, attorneys in the felony, misdemeanor, and mental health units remain consistently at or above maximum caseload capacity.

The Office has 82.0 Deputy Public Defender attorney positions covering various programs in the Department. A majority of the attorneys cover felonies, misdemeanors, juvenile and mental health cases, while others cover more specialized program areas. The felony and misdemeanor case referral trends from the Superior Court remain high. In May of this year, the average misdemeanor caseload was 142 clients. As of July, the average misdemeanor caseload was 149 clients. Similarly, the average felony caseload increased from 29.75 clients to 31.48 clients during the same time period. Therefore, attorneys assigned to the felony unit have experienced a caseload average increase of 6% between May and July of this year, and attorneys assigned to the misdemeanor unit have experienced a caseload average increase of 5%.

The Public Defender's Office has been working closely with the County Administrator's Office to ensure the staffing needs of the office are met and that the office maintains sufficient attorney capacity in order to fulfill its constitutional obligations and to ensure that all cases possible remain with the department. In order to address the increased legal obligations and caseload capacity concerns, four Deputy Public Defender II positions are needed to increase attorney bandwidth in the felony and misdemeanor units.

CONSEQUENCE OF NEGATIVE ACTION:

If not approved, the Public Defender will lack sufficient attorney bandwidth to accept all case referrals from the superior court.