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Just a year old, Kaufman County PD's office serves as a model for others around state
By Michael Gresham: mgresham@kaufmanherald.com
KAUFMAN - A year ago when Andrew Jordan was appointed as Kaufman County's first public defender, he had no staff, no desk and a daunting charge from commissioners to trim down the county's swelling indigent defense costs.
“I really thought when I agreed to accept the position that somewhere there was ‘The Idiot's Guide to Creating a Public Defender's Office,' ” Jordan said. “That book doesn't exist so, to that extent, it was overwhelming trying to start from scratch.”
Turn the clock forward to November 2007 and you'll find one of the county's bigger success stories in action.
The public defender's office now includes Jordan, Chris Jones, first assistant; David Miller, investigator; Jacque Mann, secretary; Erin Shinn, attorney; and Holly Thompson, paralegal. It also boasts a substantial track record for just one year's worth of work.
Of course, to understand how much an impact the creation of a public defender's office has had on Kaufman County, one simply has to take a look at year's past.
Prior to creation of the office last November, Kaufman County disposed of 1,926 indigent defense cases in the 2005-2006 fiscal year. That workload cost the county $600,427, or roughly $315 per case.
Trends showed that financial burden was only going to increase with time unless something was done. In 2003, the county's indigent defense costs were around $200,000. In 2006, that number jumped to about $1.2 million.
“Indigent defense costs were virtually breaking the county,” Kaufman County Judge Wayne Gent recalled. “We had to try something.”
That something was the county taking advantage of a $182,000 state grant to help kick start creation of the public defender's office.
This past year, Jordan and his staff responded by disposing of 2,977 indigent defense cases, an increase of 35 percent over 2006. At the same time, the office trimmed the county indigent defense costs by nearly $200,000, charging merely $150 per case.
Despite being slightly overwhelmed at first, the amount of success doesn't surprise Jordan.
“I believed in the concept and I knew we could provide quality representation and still save money if we could get everyone on board,” he said. “So even when I was overwhelmed at times, I was never dispirited.”
And, from its meager beginnings, the public defender's office has become a model program.
“Obviously I'm pleased. I don't have anything to compare it to because we've never had a PD's office in Kaufman County, but I get a lot of positive feedback from other sources,” Jordan said. “Officials from Bowie County have come here twice to see what we are doing and I heard they just established a similar office there. I've also heard from Ellis County, which is fairly similar to us as far as size and demographics. Some of their officials like what we've done and are considering using it as a model. So that's flattering when someone comes to you and says ‘I'm impressed. Show me how this works.'”
Gent shared Jordan's enthusiasm for the impact the public defender's office has had in just one year.
“We're very excited and proud of what has been accomplished in really just a short amount of time,” Gent said. “Obviously, when we went into this, we had hoped it would be beneficial to the county because at the time we were spending so much on indigent defense costs and we had to stop the bleeding somehow.”
In addition to its cost savings for the county, the public defender's office has made the process more efficient, according to those in the courthouse.
“In the year we've been in operation, the criminal justice system in Kaufman County has disposed of 35 percent more cases while at the same time, the money spent on court appointed attorneys is down 33 percent,” Jordan said. “I personally believe the crucial number to look at is the average cost per case to taxpayers. In 2006 that was over $300 by my calculations. This year that number has dropped below $150. The net effect is that the county is moving significantly more cases at a significantly reduced cost.”
Gent praised the addition of the public defender's office, calling it “more efficient.”
Jordan, though, is quick to spread the credit around when it comes to the office's contribution to the county.
“Whatever impact there has been on the county has been the result of a combined effort between my office, the district attorney, the judges and the sheriff's office,” he said. “You saw the Cowboys game against Washington. T.O. had four touchdowns but he didn't do it alone. Somebody pass blocked, somebody threw the ball, somebody ran dummy routes to occupy the secondary. Our office is just part of a bigger team, but I'm very proud of the team's success this season.”
Judge Howard Tygrett, who presides over the 86th State District Court, agreed.
“It's been a total team effort with the public defender, the new district attorney, the judges and the various law enforcement agencies,” said Tygrett, who added that the team effort combined with the creation of the public defender's office has led to a more efficient system. “The office has streamlined procedure for many cases which has resulted in justice for the wrongly accused and has saved the county huge amounts of money by moving people through the system faster.”
Of course, with Kaufman County's swelling population, new staff and a year's worth of experience help, but Jordan admits the task before the public defender's office remains daunting.
“It's hectic, and it always will be, but I like that. Of all the challenges we have, boredom is not one of them,” he said. “So far we've represented over 800 clients, most of them with multiple charges. You constantly have to remind yourself that even though one of them is not our only client, we are their only lawyer. We try to approach each one with the same amount of energy, devotion and attention to detail, but, sure, we get spread pretty thin sometimes.”
But more help is on the way thanks to county commissioners.
“I was very proud that in the last budget cycle the commissioners court recognized we were moving in the right direction,” Jordan said. “They believed if we expanded the capacity it would have an even greater impact. To that end, they decided to fund two additional attorneys which will allow us to have one per each criminal court.”
With more time, Jordan said he believes the public defender's office will have an even greater impact on Kaufman County.
“I am really excited to be working right now with the district attorney, the sheriff and the judges to create a special program for mentally ill clients,” Jordan said. “Sadly, over the last several years the Legislature has continued to under fund programs that care for people with recognized mental illnesses.”
According to Jordan, the result has been that the county jail has become the de facto care facility for citizens who, through no fault of their own, can't interact in society.
“In addition to being expensive and presenting a liability issue for Kaufman County, it's simply inhumane,” Jordan said. “Many of these individuals also qualify for my office's services so that area of the law is of particular importance to me. Hopefully in another year I can report that we have found a way to balance public safety against the absolute need to take a more compassionate approach to the mentally ill who enter our criminal justice system.”
For Gent and county commissioners, the prospect of the public defender's office having an even greater impact on the county is good news.
“Obviously, we're excited about it being successful because in the new budget we've funded the addition of more staff,” said Gent, jokingly adding, “Of course, the only problem we have now is we're running out office space.”
Jordan, though, prefers stay humble saying he understands the daunting task that lies ahead.
“We're grateful that we've had the opportunity to make a difference this past year,” Jordan said. “But there's a lot of hard work left to be done.”
“I really thought when I agreed to accept the position that somewhere there was ‘The Idiot's Guide to Creating a Public Defender's Office,' ” Jordan said. “That book doesn't exist so, to that extent, it was overwhelming trying to start from scratch.”
Turn the clock forward to November 2007 and you'll find one of the county's bigger success stories in action.
The public defender's office now includes Jordan, Chris Jones, first assistant; David Miller, investigator; Jacque Mann, secretary; Erin Shinn, attorney; and Holly Thompson, paralegal. It also boasts a substantial track record for just one year's worth of work.
Of course, to understand how much an impact the creation of a public defender's office has had on Kaufman County, one simply has to take a look at year's past.
Prior to creation of the office last November, Kaufman County disposed of 1,926 indigent defense cases in the 2005-2006 fiscal year. That workload cost the county $600,427, or roughly $315 per case.
Trends showed that financial burden was only going to increase with time unless something was done. In 2003, the county's indigent defense costs were around $200,000. In 2006, that number jumped to about $1.2 million.
“Indigent defense costs were virtually breaking the county,” Kaufman County Judge Wayne Gent recalled. “We had to try something.”
That something was the county taking advantage of a $182,000 state grant to help kick start creation of the public defender's office.
This past year, Jordan and his staff responded by disposing of 2,977 indigent defense cases, an increase of 35 percent over 2006. At the same time, the office trimmed the county indigent defense costs by nearly $200,000, charging merely $150 per case.
Despite being slightly overwhelmed at first, the amount of success doesn't surprise Jordan.
“I believed in the concept and I knew we could provide quality representation and still save money if we could get everyone on board,” he said. “So even when I was overwhelmed at times, I was never dispirited.”
And, from its meager beginnings, the public defender's office has become a model program.
“Obviously I'm pleased. I don't have anything to compare it to because we've never had a PD's office in Kaufman County, but I get a lot of positive feedback from other sources,” Jordan said. “Officials from Bowie County have come here twice to see what we are doing and I heard they just established a similar office there. I've also heard from Ellis County, which is fairly similar to us as far as size and demographics. Some of their officials like what we've done and are considering using it as a model. So that's flattering when someone comes to you and says ‘I'm impressed. Show me how this works.'”
Gent shared Jordan's enthusiasm for the impact the public defender's office has had in just one year.
“We're very excited and proud of what has been accomplished in really just a short amount of time,” Gent said. “Obviously, when we went into this, we had hoped it would be beneficial to the county because at the time we were spending so much on indigent defense costs and we had to stop the bleeding somehow.”
In addition to its cost savings for the county, the public defender's office has made the process more efficient, according to those in the courthouse.
“In the year we've been in operation, the criminal justice system in Kaufman County has disposed of 35 percent more cases while at the same time, the money spent on court appointed attorneys is down 33 percent,” Jordan said. “I personally believe the crucial number to look at is the average cost per case to taxpayers. In 2006 that was over $300 by my calculations. This year that number has dropped below $150. The net effect is that the county is moving significantly more cases at a significantly reduced cost.”
Gent praised the addition of the public defender's office, calling it “more efficient.”
Jordan, though, is quick to spread the credit around when it comes to the office's contribution to the county.
“Whatever impact there has been on the county has been the result of a combined effort between my office, the district attorney, the judges and the sheriff's office,” he said. “You saw the Cowboys game against Washington. T.O. had four touchdowns but he didn't do it alone. Somebody pass blocked, somebody threw the ball, somebody ran dummy routes to occupy the secondary. Our office is just part of a bigger team, but I'm very proud of the team's success this season.”
Judge Howard Tygrett, who presides over the 86th State District Court, agreed.
“It's been a total team effort with the public defender, the new district attorney, the judges and the various law enforcement agencies,” said Tygrett, who added that the team effort combined with the creation of the public defender's office has led to a more efficient system. “The office has streamlined procedure for many cases which has resulted in justice for the wrongly accused and has saved the county huge amounts of money by moving people through the system faster.”
Of course, with Kaufman County's swelling population, new staff and a year's worth of experience help, but Jordan admits the task before the public defender's office remains daunting.
“It's hectic, and it always will be, but I like that. Of all the challenges we have, boredom is not one of them,” he said. “So far we've represented over 800 clients, most of them with multiple charges. You constantly have to remind yourself that even though one of them is not our only client, we are their only lawyer. We try to approach each one with the same amount of energy, devotion and attention to detail, but, sure, we get spread pretty thin sometimes.”
But more help is on the way thanks to county commissioners.
“I was very proud that in the last budget cycle the commissioners court recognized we were moving in the right direction,” Jordan said. “They believed if we expanded the capacity it would have an even greater impact. To that end, they decided to fund two additional attorneys which will allow us to have one per each criminal court.”
With more time, Jordan said he believes the public defender's office will have an even greater impact on Kaufman County.
“I am really excited to be working right now with the district attorney, the sheriff and the judges to create a special program for mentally ill clients,” Jordan said. “Sadly, over the last several years the Legislature has continued to under fund programs that care for people with recognized mental illnesses.”
According to Jordan, the result has been that the county jail has become the de facto care facility for citizens who, through no fault of their own, can't interact in society.
“In addition to being expensive and presenting a liability issue for Kaufman County, it's simply inhumane,” Jordan said. “Many of these individuals also qualify for my office's services so that area of the law is of particular importance to me. Hopefully in another year I can report that we have found a way to balance public safety against the absolute need to take a more compassionate approach to the mentally ill who enter our criminal justice system.”
For Gent and county commissioners, the prospect of the public defender's office having an even greater impact on the county is good news.
“Obviously, we're excited about it being successful because in the new budget we've funded the addition of more staff,” said Gent, jokingly adding, “Of course, the only problem we have now is we're running out office space.”
Jordan, though, prefers stay humble saying he understands the daunting task that lies ahead.
“We're grateful that we've had the opportunity to make a difference this past year,” Jordan said. “But there's a lot of hard work left to be done.”
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