The Maine Commission on Public Defense Services says it’s out of money to provide lawyers for low income defenants in court.
Frayla Tarpinian, executive director of the Maine Commission on Public Defense Services, says her agency is out of money.
“I am dismayed that this issue — which was identified prior to 2024 — was not addressed in time to avoid the situation we find ourselves in today, unable to pay for constitutionally and statutorily required legal services,” Tarpinian said in a statement. “The indigent defense crisis has been festering in Maine for years.”
The commission is urging the legislature to pass a bill that provides funding on an emergency basis.
The bill is waiting for action in the Maine House, which meets on Thursday.
“PDS urges the Legislature to take immediate action in passing LD 2059 on an emergency basis so PDS may resume payments to assigned counsel and continue providing the indigent legal services that Mainers are entitled to,” Tarpinian said.
The Maine public defender system has been under fire for failing to meet a Constitutional requirement to provide attorneys to people who can’t afford one.
The State of Maine and PDS are being sued for not providing sufficient attorneys and have been found by a court to have violated the Sixth Amendment rights of persons who are entitled to counsel.
Tarpinian says an email has been sent informing attorneys that the last payments for this fiscal year will be made on March 23rd.
