NORRISTOWN – Montgomery County took steps Thursday to restructure its public defender office, approving the hiring of 18 new employees.
“This is the ultimate turning point,” Chief Public Defender Christine Lora said in an interview with MediaNews Group ahead of county commissioners’ vote Thursday to approve the hiring plan.
The county’s public defender’s office currently has about 74 employees, including about 50 attorneys, according to Lora. The public defender’s office represents indigent individuals who are arrested or charged with a criminal offense without charge. If an indigent individual is eligible for representation, attorneys defend the individual at every stage of the proceedings.
“We really just see this as a way to continue to show our support and make sure that every resident, no matter how much money they have, has access to the highest level of legal representation,” Montgomery County Commissioners Chairwoman Jamila Winder said in an interview with MediaNews Group ahead of Thursday’s vote.
Planned new hires include 15 attorneys, an assistant director of mental health and two administrative support specialists, Lora said.
Six of the attorneys would work in the adult trial division and handle Montgomery County Court of Common Pleas cases; six would be assigned to the pretrial division; one attorney would be assigned to the juvenile division (also known as the child advocacy unit); another would handle juvenile delinquency cases, and the final attorney would be assigned to the assault division.
Compensation for the new Montgomery County Public Defender’s Office staff varies, according to salary records. Salaries range from $61,249 to $91,566.45 for attorneys; from $42,281 to $64,833.55 for office support staff; and from $93,787 to $143,807.55 for the deputy director of the mental health department.
“I want to make sure the public understands that we have a great team of people in public defense and that can’t be overlooked in all of this,” Winder said. “This is really an effort to get us up to a first-class standard in terms of personnel.
“And we don’t just invest in people. Those people need to have tools and systems they can use to do their jobs,” Winder said.
Will take some time
While the Montgomery County Salary Committee has voted to approve new hires at the public defender’s office, it is unclear exactly when the new staff will be hired.
“We want to make sure the community knows that we need to hire 18 experienced professionals – that will take some time,” Winder said.
Lora agreed. She was looking for “experienced attorneys” and expected to have to “take a phased approach” to filling positions. Lora also set an overall goal of having the positions fully filled by next summer, but stressed that “it will be a gradual push.”
Lora said she plans to hire nine new staff members this fall, with three new attorneys expected next month. She added that intensive efforts are currently underway to recruit the deputy director of mental health. “…We will do everything in our power to get that person on board before the new year,” Lora said.
Reducing the number of cases
As Lora and Winder observed, the county’s public defender’s office has long been burdened with an enormous caseload. Winder noted that about 24 attorneys who handle adult criminal cases in Montgomery County handle “an average of 5,000 cases per year.”
“Currently, the average caseload of attorneys in Montgomery County is, in some cases, more than double the industry recommended,” Winder said, adding, “One of our biggest concerns is the caseload and workload of our public defenders.”
Lora agreed, pointing to the results of the National Public Defense Workload Study. The 2023 document called for the elimination of current workload standards for public defenders, citing instead the need to reduce “excessive caseloads” and calling for different types of cases to be weighted differently.
“We want to make sure we provide constitutional representation to our clients, and we will be able to say we are here in Montgomery County, and that is a wonderful feeling,” Lora said.
Stopped a relocation
The staffing increase prompted county commissioners to halt plans to renovate a proposed site for the Montgomery County public defender’s office. Elected officials had approved a $9.57 million contract in April to renovate a four-story building at 18 W. Airy St. in Norristown.
The space was originally purchased by the county in 2021, and the contract package included the procurement of services to perform interior and exterior improvements to the building. Jesse King, director of the Montgomery County Department of Assets and Infrastructure, had previously told MediaNews Group in April that work could be completed in the “late second quarter” of 2025.
But county officials reconsidered their options amid discussions over proposed staff increases over the past four months and suspended the project in mid-July. The county public defender’s office currently operates out of the Montgomery County Courthouse at 2 E. Airy St. in Norristown.
“It now exceeds the design expectations of this property,” Winder said. “Instead of going down a path and fitting out an office based on an old plan, we decided to just pause it and rethink the options for using this building.”
Winder said the contract has since been canceled. However, a bill for $41,461 has been received “for the preparation of structural steel drawings,” according to a county spokesman. The remaining $9.52 million will go back into the county’s capital budget.
Potential locations have not yet been identified, but Winder stressed that maintaining a presence in the county seat is a top priority, citing the necessary proximity to the Montgomery County Courthouse.
“So that doesn’t necessarily mean that 18 W. Airy (St.) isn’t the right location,” Winder said. “We just terminated the contract because we need to take a step back and think about our entire campus plan. So that’s not necessarily off the table, but our assets and infrastructure team is really looking at whether that location is the best option.”
“…It would be irresponsible of us to continue to advance the plans we previously voted on, knowing that we want public defense to work together in a collaborative work environment,” she continued.
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