A Washington County judge has mandated the region’s largest public defense firm to disclose detailed data regarding its attorneys’ workloads, a move indicative of the ongoing crisis within Oregon’s public defense system.
Judge Rebecca Guptill issued her order to the Metropolitan Public Defender, a nonprofit organization that serves clients in Washington and Multnomah counties, requiring it to submit information about caseloads handled by its Hillsboro-based attorneys.
In addition, the judge demanded that the firm provide a copy of its contract with the Oregon Public Defense Commission, an agency currently grappling with significant challenges in managing the state’s fragmented public defense infrastructure.
This directive marks another significant step from Oregon’s judicial system as the state confronts the pressing need for legal representation for individuals accused of crimes.
Currently, approximately 4,000 defendants across Oregon are left without appointed legal counsel, underscoring the severity of the public defender crisis.
Critics, including Washington County District Attorney Kevin Barton and Multnomah County DA Nathan Vasquez, argue that the failure to appoint lawyers is less a matter of overwhelming workloads and more an issue of mismanagement and a lack of accountability within the public defense system.
In light of these ongoing concerns, Oregon Governor Tina Kotek recently terminated Jessica Kampfe, the executive director of the Public Defense Commission, and called for immediate and actionable reforms, stipulating that a feasible timeline for solutions must be established by June 1.
Judge Guptill characterized the current situation as an “unprecedented crisis” for the Washington County Court, emphasizing the longstanding backlog of unrepresented defendants. She noted that 767 individuals accused of crimes in Washington County currently lack legal representation.
“The public defense crisis is a blight on our state and must be remedied,” she emphasized, highlighting that transparency and accountability are critical factors in identifying and resolving the issues at hand.
The order comes amid escalating tensions between the Metropolitan Public Defender and local prosecutors regarding the workloads of public defense attorneys. Prosecutors recently submitted a court audit presenting their analysis of public defender caseloads, which they assert is based on state court data.
Washington County Senior Deputy District Attorney Andrew Freeman claimed that their findings suggest that the public defense firm has the capacity to handle more cases but is reportedly choosing not to do so.
Freeman cited an alarming example of a case involving Jonah E. Bregman, who faced multiple serious charges, including burglary and sex crimes, and was subsequently convicted in California. Notably, Bregman had no pending court dates for his Oregon charges, yet a public defender participated in his case, which Freeman argued detracted from the defenders’ abilities to manage other active cases.
Judge Guptill acknowledged in her ruling that the Metropolitan Public Defender had
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