Oregon's shortage of public defenders continues to plague the High Desert. "It's frankly embarrassing that the state is failing in this way," says Deschutes County District Attorney Steve Gunnels. He blames the Oregon Public Defense Commission, which imposed new maximum caseloads last year. Earlier this year, he told KBND News the county would see some relief when those maximums reset in July. But it's still an issue, "We have, right now, about 150 cases in Deschutes County where people have been sitting for months without a public defender to take the case, because of this new criteria that's been established." He adds, "These people don't have an attorney, so they don't have a trial date, their cases don't move forward at all, they're just sitting in limbo. And, we're waiting for some solution." Gunnels says if the defendant goes six months without an attorney, the state has to drop the charges, "That the crime that the person committed will just be forgiven. And this includes things like restraining order violations, driving under the influence of intoxicants; crimes that are dangerous in the community." Gunnels says that hasn't happened in Deschutes County yet, but the deadline looms for a number of cases. 

The problem has plagued larger metro areas for several years, but Gunnels says it didn't really impact our region until last spring, "In March, we started to see multiple cases where the court wasn't able to locate any public defender."

Gunnels is optimistic relief is on the way, "The Legislature is very interested in this issue, I know. And, the Governor's office will take control of this program, come January first. And the Governor's office has shown that they're interested in this as well, and I'm hopeful that there will be some solution to move these cases forward."