State lawmakers should protect funding for indigent legal services

In Gov. Kathy Hochul’s 2024-2025 budget proposal, she proposes to transfer $234 million from the Indigent Legal Services Fund to the state’s general fund. State defenders, tasked with the constitutional responsibility of representing hundreds of thousands of defendants who could not otherwise afford legal representation, urge legislators to reject this unjustified sweep of funds.

This money is intended to assist counties statewide to improve the delivery of public defense services without increasing financial obligations on those government entities, which are required by law to maintain and fund indigent legal service providers.

For years, significant underfunding has left public defense organizations and counsel providers struggling to provide quality legal services for individuals deemed financially unable to pay. High caseloads, low salaries, high attrition and inadequate support personnel (i.e., investigators, social workers and paralegals) have hurt the delivery of quality legal representation to our clients. It wasn’t until Hurrell-Harring v. New York was settled in 2014 that the state finally took responsibility for fixing a broken and inadequate public defense system, and significantly improved funding of public defense offices in certain counties, including Suffolk. Since 2014, the state has expanded settlement funding statewide, resulting in vast improvements in public defense representation in criminal cases, without imposing additional financial burdens on our counties.

Hochul’s proposed withdrawal of funds is extraordinarily misguided and shortsighted, as it potentially leaves counties with an unfunded mandate to pay for agreed-upon improvements in the delivery of constitutionally mandated legal representation.

Moreover, while the state has assumed responsibility to significantly fund indigent criminal defense providers, there’s never been any meaningful funding to improve the quality of indigent legal services in Family Court, a priority of Court of Appeals Chief Judge Rowan Wilson and one requiring the approval of Hochul and the State Legislature. Despite widespread acknowledgment that New York’s Family Court system is in crisis, neither assent has been given. Notably, a recent state report concluded that years of underinvestment in Family Court “have led to a dysfunctional system that is simply not capable of providing justice to those who need it most.”

Long Island Assemb. Charles Lavine, chair of the Judiciary Committee, is among legislative leaders urging a “historic $102 million investment in the Family Court system” in the 2024-2025 budget, rather than a divestment of $234 million. This money can, and should, be earmarked to properly fund Family Court, including the offices that provide representation to parents and children.

While past state funding has led to tremendous improvements in indigent legal services, public defender agencies and Legal Aid offices can achieve far more with more money. In their 2024-2025 budget request, Indigent Legal Services requested appropriations from the Indigent Legal Services Fund for increased Family Court funding and much-needed cost-of-living increases to reflect the growing requirements, mandates and obligations of public defense providers.

The systemic improvements already covered by these funds and the great need for additional improvements render it unacceptable for the governor to reallocate this money. Doing so threatens access to justice for thousands of vulnerable New Yorkers, many disproportionately from Black and brown communities. We respectfully urge the legislature to reject the governor’s proposed sweep and use these funds for their intended purpose, to improve the delivery of legal services to underserved and marginalized communities and the poor.