NLADA has conducted a top-to-bottom management evaluation of the largest
public defender office in Nevada, and the County Manager promptly responded
by promising to seek the additional funding to implement the reforms recommended
by NLADA.
NLADA's evaluation report on the Clark County Public Defender Office, released
on April 1 and on the front page of the Las Vegas Review-Journal the next
day, recommended numerous reforms to achieve the county's goals of performance-based
accountability and effective and efficient representation. The report explains
that the problems, such as excessive caseloads and lack of any management
structure, accrued during the tenure of the office's previous long-time chief
public defender, and that the new Chief Public Defender, Marcus Cooper, recognizes
the "enormity" of the problems and has the "vision and compassion"
to rejuvenate the office.
The number one change recommended: increased funding. County Manager Thom
Riley stated that he will work with Cooper to get him the resources he needs
to fulfill the recommendations, including: increasing the number and type
of staff, redefining the office management structure, creating a specialized
training unit, and establishing a separate appellate unit.
The NLADA assessment team determined that the office's attorney caseloads
are in serious breach of national workload standards. Its report found that
the office has been historically understaffed, causing a serious crisis pending
in adult felony and misdemeanor representation.
Juvenile representation is beyond the crisis point, the report found, and
requires immediate attention to avert constitutional challenges of ineffective
assistance of counsel. Since 1983, the juvenile facility has been staffed
with only two attorneys. The current Chief Public Defender added a third in
2002. From 1993 until 2001, the office's juvenile new assignments increased
almost four-fold (from 576 to 2,867) without a single new attorney being added
to help with the workload. At the close of 2001, the office's juvenile attorneys
were expected to handle more than seven times the number of cases recommended
by ABA and NLADA standards. The report recommends an increase of 11 attorneys
specifically dedicated to juvenile delinquency representation.
Increasing the juvenile delinquency staff is being supported by the County
because of the NLADA report's discussion that at-risk juveniles require special
attention from public defenders if there is hope of preventing escalating
behavioral problems that increase the later risk of adult criminal behavior.
As the report explained, the office's juvenile clients are commonly children
who have been neglected by parents and other support structures that normally
channel children in constructive directions. When they are brought to Family
Court and given a public defender who has no time for them other than to dispose
of the case as quickly as possible, the message of neglect and valuelessness
continues, and the risk not only of recidivism, but of escalation of misconduct,
increases. The County sees the investment in funding the public defender office
as a cost savings against future adult cases.
On top of the workload concerns, the NLADA assessment team found that the
office has a longstanding institutional culture that places a priority on
attorney autonomy over the collective health of the organization. This has
fostered organizational isolationism that limits accountability, support and
professional development of staff, and inhibits interactions between attorneys
in the office, between attorneys and support staff, between the organization
and its client base, and between the organization and the national indigent
defense community - all of which has hindered the organization's ability to
implement effective change. Rather than a unified law firm committed to providing
effective and efficient services in a cooperative environment, the Clark County
Public Defender Office has evolved over its 36-year history into 70 separate,
individual law practices housed under a single roof. The report concludes
that consistent quality performance is not achievable in the office without
first creating a supervisory staff structure, and recommends the creation
of 11 Attorney Supervisor positions as a first step in changing the culture
of the office.
The report also generated very positive coverage and editorials in the Las
Vegas Weekly and the Las Vegas Sun. The Sun editorial expressed concern that
failure to implement NLADA's recommendations could result in reversed convictions
and class action lawsuits, which could cost the County "a boatload of
money."
"The County Commission should start phasing more attorneys and paralegals
into the public defender's office to ensure that justice isn't denied,"
urged the Sun's editorial.
The Clark County report is the first publicly released report from NLADA's
revamped research and evaluations division. NLADA put together a site assessment
team consisting of NLADA staff representatives and members of the American
Council of Chief Defenders that included: Bob Boruchowitz (The Defender Association,
King County, Washington), Susan Hendricks (The Legal Aid Society, New York),
Lenny Noisette (Neighborhood Defender Services, New York) and David Meyer
(formerly of the Los Angeles County Public Defender Office), and NLADA staff
Jo-Ann Wallace, Cait Clarke and David Carroll. ACCD members for the Clark
County study were chosen from jurisdictions with similar county-based indigent
defense structures, and/or possessing special expertise in areas of concerns
raised by the Clark County office's management.
For more information on evaluation services, please contact David Carroll
at: d.carroll@nlada.org or 202-452-0620 x233.
