By Deborah Yetter
The Courier-Journal
Each public defender opens an average of 489 cases a year, more than the number recommended by the National Legal Aid and Defender Association, said Ernie Lewis, head of the Department of Public Advocacy. Kentucky public defenders handle a mix of misdemeanors, felonies and juvenile cases, he said.
The association recommends public defenders open no more than 400 misdemeanor cases a year, the simplest to represent, or no more than 150 felony or 200 juvenile cases per year. The association does not set a threshold for a mix of those cases.
Public defenders represent 85 percent of the people charged with felonies in Kentucky, including most of those charged in potential death penalty cases, Lewis said.
He said they represent all death row inmates.
Link to Lexington Herald Leader version of story
Link to Cincinnati Enquirer version
