LAWRENCE CO. – Lawrence County Chief Public Defender Tim Sledd provided members of the Lawrence County Council with his department’s annual report on Tuesday, including the impact of cost saving measures taken since he assumed the role in May of last year.
According to Sledd, total expenditures for the department in 2022 were $1,117,038. That number includes salaries, contract services, office expenses and other costs associated with operating the agency.
With those costs, the county receives a 40% reimbursement from the Indiana Public Defender Commission for certain expenses. That reimbursement total was $381,906.88.
The department receives reimbursements from other sources as well, including $10,422.37 from the United States federal government for taking on Child in Need of Services or CHINS cases. In total, the net expense to the county for the services of the agency was $724,708.98.
Sledd told the council that he inherited a previous budget amount of $896,053 when he stepped in as the county’s chief public defender in May. In addition to that budget, Sledd said the department was required to request an additional $70,000 in appropriations and he was able to return $2,790.82 in unused funds from his most recent appropriation request, which was $20,000.
The budget financial hurdle encountered from the agency as Sledd took over as the use of contracted attorneys, who were required for some cases where state regulations specify certain qualifications are needed for an attorney to take them, such as high level felony charges.
Previously, the department struggled to meet these requirements in house due to staffing issues, meaning often contracted attorneys needed to be used. Those services came at a high cost to the county, which led to many of the prior requests for additional appropriations.
Since Sledd has taken over, he has worked to restructure the staff and fill-in vacancies, allowing him to handle all cases thus far with his own attorneys, meaning the department has not since had to hire outside defense for clients, which he said has helped to reduce their overall spending.
Sledd also said he has began requiring all of his attorneys to monitor the hours they spend on a specific case, which has allowed them to seek reimbursement from clients who the court may order financially able to afford legal defense, requiring them to pay for the agency’s services. Through those reimbursements, Sledd said the department has recouped $27,489.
Sledd told the council he has also worked with Lawrence County Prosecutor Samuel Arp to move to electronic discovery in the pre-trial process, instead of using printed materials, CDs, USB drives and other physical media forms. By doing so, Sledd said he has been able to save around $25,000 a year on the cost of supplies normally needed.
Council members expressed their gratitude for Sledd’s efforts to cut costs, as well as his transparency with the agency’s finances.
“I think you’ve done a tremendous job and that’s a very easy to understand synopsis,” said council member Julie Chase.
“Ever since I’ve been on the council, we have asked the public defender for this kind of report. And when you came along, there was very little confidence or respect for the department amongst this council. I don’t think we were wrong because we weren’t treated the way we should’ve been. But, you’ve come a long way in improving that,” council president Jeff Lytton said. “I appreciate your report, very useful.”
