New Hampshire
Cases continue to be delayed in New Hampshire because of shortage of court-appointed lawyers
Courtroom instances in New Hampshire are being delayed due to a scarcity of court-appointed attorneys, an issue courtroom officers say dates again months.Some instances in Merrimack County Superior Courtroom have been delayed Thursday as a result of the defendants had not but been capable of finding attorneys. The Workplace of the Judicial Council mentioned it has 998 instances ready to be assigned a public defender.That quantity has dropped for the reason that disaster started on the finish of final yr, in line with Sarah Blodgett, govt director of the judicial council. She mentioned the general public defender’s workplace has been in a position to take 1,300 instances off maintain since December, but it surely’s not as straightforward as handing out instances to attorneys as they arrive in.”They’re contractually restricted to 70 instances per legal professional, so it is not till their present caseload can get resolved that they are in a position to tackle a few of these instances which can be at the moment on maintain,” Blodgett mentioned.The state accredited $2.3 million in March to offer public defenders a pay enhance. Blodgett mentioned that helped, and the general public defender’s workplace can be hiring 19 new attorneys who’re set to start out on the finish of August.
Courtroom instances in New Hampshire are being delayed due to a scarcity of court-appointed attorneys, an issue courtroom officers say dates again months.
Some instances in Merrimack County Superior Courtroom have been delayed Thursday as a result of the defendants had not but been capable of finding attorneys. The Workplace of the Judicial Council mentioned it has 998 instances ready to be assigned a public defender.
That quantity has dropped for the reason that disaster started on the finish of final yr, in line with Sarah Blodgett, govt director of the judicial council. She mentioned the general public defender’s workplace has been in a position to take 1,300 instances off maintain since December, but it surely’s not as straightforward as handing out instances to attorneys as they arrive in.
“They’re contractually restricted to 70 instances per legal professional, so it is not till their present caseload can get resolved that they are in a position to tackle a few of these instances which can be at the moment on maintain,” Blodgett mentioned.
The state accredited $2.3 million in March to offer public defenders a pay enhance. Blodgett mentioned that helped, and the general public defender’s workplace can be hiring 19 new attorneys who’re set to start out on the finish of August.