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House Increases Funding for Legal Representation
Rep. Shields carries Public Defense budget bill to passage.
Salem, Ore. - June 12, 2007 - State Representative Chip Shields (D-N/NE Portland) carried the budget bill for the Public Defense Services Commission to passage on the floor of the Oregon House of Representatives today.
Senate Bill 5535 increases the Public Defense Services Commission budget from $183.5 million in the 2005 biennium to $213.6 million in the 2007 biennium. The budget includes $2.7 million to increase the hourly rate for attorneys working on death penalty cases from $55 to $60 per hour, and it increases the hourly rate on other cases from $40 to $45 per hour.
This increase will also partially close the prosecutor/public defender salary gap by 1/6th. Currently in Multnomah County, a public defender's starting salary is $39,000, while a deputy district attorney's starting salary is $54,000.
"Equal access to justice is critical to the proper functioning of our criminal justice system," said Shields. "This Public Defense budget is a good first step, but it is not enough."
Shields said that he and his committee are advocating for at least an additional $1 million for Public Defense Services in the Ways and Means end-of-session budget.
Prior to joining the legislature, Shields was founder and executive director of Better People, a living-wage employment and counseling program for former offenders.
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