posted March 2, 2005
The County Commission voted 5-4 on Wednesday morning against imposing a new $12.50 court cost to provide additional funding for the public defender's office.
The measure needed six votes to pass, but only got support from William Cotton, Lou Miller, Greg Beck and Curtis Adams.
Opposed were Chairman Fred Skillern and Commissioners Richard Casavant, Bill Hullander, Larry Henry and Charlotte Vandergriff.
Public defender Ardena Garth said her staff is overworked and she may reach a point within the next six weeks where she is unable to take additional cases.
Officials said that happened in Knox County, and there was an outcry after all private attorneys were told to represent indigent defendants "pro bono." The public defender's office was then put back into place in Knox County with 14 staff members instead of the previous seven.
Commissioner Casavant said costs were continuing to rise for the judicial system and the sheriff's office. He said since 1995 they had gone up 6.4 percent per year for the judiciary and 7.5 percent for the sheriff.
He said the item for the public defender needed to be considered in the context of the whole judicial system and not on its own.
Mark Stephens, the public defender from Knoxville, spoke in favor of the measure, saying it was a tax on those using the courts and not a burden on taxpayers.
He said his commission passed the tax unanimously several years ago and it brings in about $250,000 per year. He said his office could not operate without that fee and other local support.
Commissioner Cotton said the commission was violating the state constitution and state law by not providing the extra money.
He said the money would go "not just for defending the scum of the earth, but for the indigent who cannot afford lawyers and are innocent until proven guilty."
Christian Coder, a 10-year member of the public defender's staff, said he has a heavy caseload at Juvenile Court and also must go to Soddy-Daisy Court on some nights.
Commissioner Miller said it was an issue of "whether you want criminals to pay or you want taxpayers to pay."
She said the commission's legal committee recommended it 2-1. She said one member "did not understand the issue."
Commissioner Vandergriff said, "I did understand it, and I am opposed to it."
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