The head of Idaho’s public defenders office worries further cuts to his budget could get the state sued again for not upholding its constitutional duties.
The Sixth Amendment requires governments to provide attorneys to those who can’t afford one in criminal cases.
The Idaho Supreme Court is still reviewing a lawsuit brought against the office by the ACLU of Idaho.
The case accuses public defenders of not showing up to hearings and leaving indigent clients in jail for days or weeks in 2024 when the state first took over those services.
Eric Fredericksen, the state’s chief public defender, said he’s since been able to solve those problems by hiring more full-time staff and contracting with outside attorneys to better manage any overflow in caseload.
“What that overflow does is it reduces the workload of our attorneys, and as everybody in this room knows, one of the big issues in the lawsuit is workload,” Fredericksen told the Joint Finance and Appropriations Committee Wednesday morning.
Further budget cuts, he said, would eat into his contracting budget.
In turn, “We’re going to see caseloads go up. When caseloads go up, we have concerns that we lose attorneys,” Fredericksen said.
He told JFAC his office could absorb some cuts, though.
Fredericksen said he could reduce out-of-town training opportunities for staff attorneys, excluding death penalty lawyers. Recent training events have been recorded and would still be accessible to new hires.
His office has about a 7% vacancy rate, which, until those positions are filled, could count towards a budget reduction.
JFAC already cut more than $100 million from next year’s budget, though Republican leaders say the committee could restore some funding later this session.
Copyright 2026 Boise State Public Radio
