Public defender successful in reducing costs across five counties

FAR WEST TEXAS — Asking for more state money and justifying the need for it worked last week for the area’s public defender system, and all of the five counties it covers will now see lower costs for indigent defense this year instead of a projected increase.

Far West Texas Regional Public Defender, established in 2017, provides public defenders for those who can’t afford attorney fees in a criminal case for Brewster, Presidio, Jeff Davis, Hudspeth and Culberson counties, all of which are constitutionally obligated to pay for indigent defense with a mix of local and state money.

Chief Public Defender James McDermott of the Far West Texas Regional Public Defender’s office in Alpine went before the Texas Indigent Defense Commission (TIDC) board last Thursday in Austin to ask the commission to up its support to the five-county system from a state reimbursement rate of 67% of indigent defense costs to 80%. “The simple truth is this: the counties cannot afford to provide even basic services in the region, but they cannot also afford to provide this constitutional mandate without the public defender,” McDermott told the board. 

McDermott said his office handles the vast majority of criminal felony cases instead of private defense counsel. “Because of the rates of poverty in the counties and the large number of people who pass through the area, this office handles over 85% of the felony criminal docket across all five counties,” he said.

McDermott laid out a detailed case to TIDC commissioners for why his office should get the increased rate — something no other county has received — by looking at the factors that make the Big Bend region a challenging place to create a robust tax base: limited economic activity, high rates of low-income residents, a high dependence on government-related and agricultural jobs, few private businesses to provide goods and services, lack of access to healthcare and several other traits of economic stress that result in low tax revenue for counties trying to pay for indigent defense. “Like all Texas counties, the general fund for each county is funded primarily through property taxes,” he said. “However, the property valuations in the region are low because of the poverty and lack of resources. The result is that county budgets do not increase over time as costs and inflation rise.” 

McDermott also noted that the region did not have an anchor county — a place with a higher population that could generate more economic activity and tax revenue to help support programs for surrounding rural counties. “Combined, the population of [our] five counties is only 25,000,” he said. “For comparison purposes, Tom Green County, the anchor county for the Concho Valley, has a population of 120,000, five times the population combined in Far West Texas.” 

The commission granted McDermott’s request, helping pay for cost increases in his budget: paying rent on offices formerly rent-free in a Brewster County building and a cost-of-living salary increase for the office’s employees. The new 80% state reimbursement rate is a windfall for the area’s cash-strapped counties. 

In emails to the five county judges, McDermott shared the good news. For example, for the current year, Presidio County pays $60,377 for indigent defense. At the current state reimbursement rate of 67%, and with cost increases from McDermott’s office, the county would be paying $77,899. But with the change to an 80% reimbursement rate, the budget for next fiscal year will be $54,281 — an overall savings of $23,617 and a savings of $6,095 from the next year’s budget.

Overall savings to Brewster County will be $65,887 and $17,006 from its original budgeted amount, with Jeff Davis County saving $11,562 overall and $2,985 from its original budget.

In his presentation to TIDC board members, McDermott outlined some other statistics that make operating an indigent defense system here difficult. “Program case numbers indicate that over 30% of public defender cases are not local,” he said. “We are currently providing services to people from Maine to California.”

McDermott said Border Patrol apprehensions in the first quarter of fiscal year 2024 were down about 65% compared to 2023. “As a result, the caseload of the local federal public defender is reaching historical lows while the state prosecutions of those same offenses are increasing dramatically,” he said. “The caseload numbers of the program indicate that about 30% of its cases have a transnational component — smuggling cases, narcotics, or offenses involving undocumented persons or permanent residents.”

State Indigent Defense Commission honors Judge Ferguson

TIDC commissioners also awarded Judge Roy B. Ferguson of the 394^th District Court the Robert O. Dawson Indigent Defense Distinguished Service Award at the Thursday meeting. The award “acknowledges the late Professor Robert O. Dawson’s outstanding contributions and symbolizes his lasting impact on the Texas Fair Defense Act and TIDC,” the commission wrote in a news release. 

“The award recognizes outstanding service by a group or an individual who has made an outstanding contribution improving the way Texas provides counsel for its poorest citizens accused of crimes. Judge Ferguson’s work has improved the quality of life for countless people in West Texas through guiding the creation of the Far West Texas Regional Public Defender in 2017, improving access to justice through remote Zoom court proceedings, and creating the online magistration portal and automated appointment system in his district, among other services focused on indigent clients,” the news release said.

“I’m incredibly grateful to TIDC for this recognition, and for its unwavering support for the needs of Far West Texans,” Ferguson said in the release. “I’m proud of what we accomplished together in such a short period of time to ensure high quality representation for the poorest of our community.”

Ferguson did not run for reelection this year and in January will be replaced by Monty Kimball, the winner of the Republican primary for the seat in March with no Democratic opponent in November.

In June, Ferguson was elected to the Board of Trustees for the Texas Bar Foundation. At a Labor Day celebration at Cibolo Creek Ranch Sunday evening, he addressed a large crowd of local officials and the public and thanked them for their support through 12 years of service. Ferguson said he was looking forward to helping other counties with the innovation in indigent defense his district has seen during his time on the bench. That innovation included the computerized system to send arrestees’ applications for indigent defense from the magistrates — usually the justices of the peace — to county judges for misdemeanors and Ferguson’s office for felonies, then automatically assign public defenders. The system was spearheaded by Paul Chambers with the Far West Texas Region Public Defender office.