The Office of the State Public Defender will “immediately” open union negotiations for higher pay and up its rate for contract attorneys, the agency said Thursday.
The plan to increase rates to address pay disparities is aimed at resolving a serious backlog of public defender cases and staffing shortages that have long plagued the agency. Officials from OPD have urged lawmakers in recent legislative hearings to boost pay for their attorneys in an effort to gain ground on employee retention woes. Currently, public defenders could move laterally within state government and take an attorney job for $13,000 more per year than what OPD pays.
“With this plan, we are taking substantive steps to improve the public defense system in Montana. Our goal is to make public defender compensation more in line with similar attorneys so we can recruit and retain well-qualified attorneys to serve Montanans,” OPD Director Rhonda Lindquist said in the press release. “Making prudent, responsible investments in public defense is an investment in our justice system and in ensuring our constitutionally guaranteed rights are upheld.”
Brett Schandelson, OPD development and operations bureau chief, said Wednesday the agency received support from the Governor’s Office and the state budget office to make the increases. The parties had been in discussions about the need for wage and rate increases for months, Schandelson said.
The increase will represent the largest investment in public defense in...
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