MAYVILLE – The cost of defending criminals in county court has seen a significant increase in 2014. That’s according to a recent article in the Buffalo News, which says the costs for the Chautauqua County Public Defender’s Office are expected to exceed $1 million by the end of this year.
The cost is due to an increase in felony jury trials this year, with a total of 27 scheduled between January and the end of October. All but two of those cases involve defendants who’ve hired their own attorneys. The remaining 25 are being defended by the public defender. Recent drug arrests in the county have also led to an increase in the number of people who need legal counsel from a public defender. As a result, attorney’s from nearby Erie County and Cattaraugus County are being call in to assist.
And the report goes onto to say that in increased case-load in Family Court is also contributing to the rising cost, because the public defender’s office is required to handle some of those cases too.
Chautauqua County Public Defender Ned Barone said that this year alone, his office is expecting to handle more than 6,000 criminal cases and about 1,200 Family Court matters – the highest either has ever been.
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