Cox: Changes needed in public defender system

As a result of a Supreme Court decision last year, the district offices of the Missouri Public Defender Commission (MPDC) have been empowered to decide on their own when their workload is too large.

For some time now, all across our state, various public defender offices have been making the decision that their caseload was too large and in turn they have declined to take additional cases for indigent defendants. The Missouri Public Defender Commission, which was created in 1972, is responsible to defend those charged with a crime who are unable to pay for their own defense attorney. The United States Constitution requires that taxpayers pay for the defense of indigent criminal defendant who face the possible jeopardy of a jail or prison sentence.

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