Champaign County Public Defender’s Office is facing a funding crisis after tax referendum fails

Champaign County Chief Public Defender Elisabeth Pollock had been hoping a public safety sales tax referendum on the ballot last fall would’ve passed, to help provide additional funding to her office. Without it, she worries current challenges will get worse.


CHAMPAIGN
– The Champaign County’s chief public defender is bracing for challenges due to underfunding that could lead to staff cuts and affect the quality of legal representation provided to people who aren’t able to afford a private attorney.

Public Defender Elisabeth Pollock said her office has been underfunded for years — making it hard to recruit and retain staff. And she expects the situation will get worse going forward, since a Champaign County referendum that would have likely increased funding for the office and other public safety initiatives failed to pass last fall.

“We’re going to just continue to drown, and I’m going to continue to lose people, people who are going to leave the office because of better-paying opportunities,” she said.

Michelle Jett, director of the administrative services for Champaign County said there are currently “no other options for providing additional funding to the public defender’s office.” 

The county’s revenue is not keeping up with expenses, Jett said in response to questions via email. The criminal justice expenses have grown substantially in the last few years, she said, and as a result, the county’s going to make some cuts to its personnel budget in the next fiscal year.

“The county budget is what it is. I hope for the best and that I maintain my current budget, and that I don’t face significant cuts when next year’s process comes around,” Pollock said. 

The next time the County Board will vote to approve a new budget is November 2025.

A system under strain

A county the size of Champaign should have at least 27 lawyers, six social workers, and six investigators to handle its caseload, according to a Northwestern University analysis of a 2023 study conducted by the RAND Corporation. However, the office currently operates with only 16 lawyers, one investigator and two social workers.

“My two social workers are currently on a grant. I have an attorney in my traffic division on a grant. I have a paralegal on a grant. I have my drug court and specialty court attorney on a grant,” Pollock said. 

The office can apply for additional grant funding to sustain those positions, she said, but that funding is not guaranteed.

This disparity between staff and caseloads can lead to subpar representation in court, she said.

Ideally, “there should not be a difference in the level of representation between a public defender and a private attorney. Just because you’re poor shouldn’t mean that you get poor service,” Pollock said.

When the public defender’s office doesn’t have the resources it needs to operate, it can lead to backlogs, delays and overburdened staff.

 “The question is going to be one of: How quickly can we get our clients what they need? How quickly can we speak with them?” Pollock said. “At some point, my hope is that we don’t dip below the baseline level of representation that is required by law. But if we did, that would open the county up to liability.”

Pollock noted the county has avoided this liability in the past, “Champaign County does have a history of retaining private attorneys to supplement the work of public defenders when we’ve been severely understaffed.” While not being paid for by the defender’s office, this alternative is still paid for by the county and does not solve the office’s problem long term.

Champaign County Judge Roger Webber echoed Pollock’s concerns, emphasizing the effects understaffing could have on the court system. 

“Having an increased caseload will make it much harder for each attorney to prepare their cases either for trial or plea negotiation,” he said via email. “It will contribute to an already existing backlog.”

With proper time to meet with defendants, attorneys can have a better understanding of motions and be able to explain them or file against them, Webber added.

Possible hope through state legislation?

Illinois has the highest rate of false convictions in the country, with 584 exonerees on record at the National Registry of Exonerations, a database that’s managed by researchers at the University of California Irvine, the University of Michigan and Michigan State University.

It’s why State Rep. Dave Vella (D-68) introduced the FAIR Act last year, which would amend the state constitution and create a statewide public defender’s office. 

The FAIR Act would give county public defenders money and support to help them retain new public defenders and lessen their “unreasonably large” caseloads, Vella said, noting that 47 states already have statewide oversight of public defense systems, which allows for better access to resources and a reduction in false convictions.

“The purpose of the FAIR Act is to give the Public Defenders in the state of Illinois an even opportunity inside the courts. On average, prosecutors have more resources, more staff, and more autonomy than public defenders,” Vella said in response to questions via email. “The FAIR Act is a way to even them out.”

The Act would also give public defenders more autonomy “by taking away the power to hire and fire them from county judges.”

Although the FAIR Act is still being finalized, Vella expects a vote by April or May, with implementation taking about two years.

“The Illinois system of public defense was created in 1949 and has not had a substantial update since,” Vella said. “The FAIR Act will bring Illinois into compliance with American Bar Association standards for independent public defense and relieve some financial pressure on county taxpayers.”

Vella hopes the FAIR Act will also help restore trust in the judicial system.

“The best way to restore that trust is to ensure a system that is fair and just to all parties making sure that the guilty get punished and the innocent go free,” he said.

While reform may be on the horizon, Pollock emphasized the immediate need for resources and public understanding of the challenges her office faces.

“When people call here and are told that their attorney cannot talk to them for two weeks because they’re in trial or too busy, the community needs to understand why that is,” she said.

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