North Dakota Attorneys Withdraw From Federal Public Defender Work

Federal Building in Bismarck. (Michael Achterling/North Dakota Monitor)

(North Dakota Monitor) – North Dakota attorneys and judicial officials say a lack of funding for a key federal program could harm federal defendants’ ability to get quality representation.

The U.S. Constitution protects criminal defendants’ right to an attorney. When federal defendants can’t afford a lawyer, they are typically assigned a federal public defender. About 40% of the time, however, federal defenders must pass the case to a private lawyer due to a conflict of interest, according to the judicial branch.

But the federal judiciary says that as of July 3, it has no more money to pay outside attorneys for these services. The judicial branch has asked Congress for roughly $116 million to sustain the program until the fiscal year turns over on Oct. 1.

The federal courts draw from panels of approved private defense attorneys when federal public defenders cannot take a case. North Dakota’s pool of private attorneys usually averages around 100 people, said Jason Tupman, the federal public defender for North Dakota and South Dakota.