Sen. Clarke Tucker (D-Little Rock) today introduced a batch of bills to increase state funding for public defenders and deputy prosecutors to cope with a backlog of criminal cases created by the pandemic.
SB 110 adds $1 million for the Public Defenders Commission to contract with defense lawyers for the remainder of this fiscal year (it ends June 30).
SB 107 provides $1 million for the prosecuting attorney coordinator to contract with lawyers to be deputy prosecutors through the end of this fiscal year.
SB 109 budgets $3.25 million to contract with defenders in the fiscal year beginning July 1.
SB 108 budgets $3.25 million for the year beginning July 1 that can be used by the prosecutor coordinator’s office to hire deputy prosecutors on a contract basis.
All the bills say they are not intended to increase permanent staffs but to address the COVID backlog and spent at the discretion of offices managing the money.