Gogebic County Court considers pay raise for attorneys

By ZACHARY MARANO

zmarano@yourdailyglobe.com

Bessemer — The Gogebic County Board of Commissioners heard a court update from District Court Judge Michael Pope at their regular meeting on Wednesday.

Pope said that the Michigan Indigent Defense Commission recently found that the state’s criminal defense system was not up to standard. As part of the state’s changes to improve the system, he said that public defenders are required to receive continuing education on how to represent their clients.

He said that the state is also increasing what public defenders are being paid. He said that their hourly rate has been increased from $50 to $100. For a felony, the hourly rate is $110 and for a capital offense — any offense punishable by up to life in prison — it is $120.

The total cost for criminal defense was $154,000 in 2018-19, $180,000 in 2019-20 and $172,000 in 2020-21. However, Pope told the board the county’s cost for each year was approximately $104,000 because the state reimburses them for the additional costs due to changes to the criminal defense system.

“You’ve gotten some tremendous savings from the state because they’re picking up the tab on all this. The unfortunate thing is I think the courts are going to need to take some of your savings back so that we can continue to pay our attorneys at a competitive rate, so they’ll continue to be a part of the other processes that we need,” Pope said.

He said that the state failed to consider the ripple effect that the new hourly rate would have on other cases where people need court-appointed attorneys, such as probate proceedings, mental health cases, guardianships and delinquency cases. He said that lawyers have a stronger financial incentive to represent criminal defendants for an hourly rate of $100, than other cases for an hourly rate of $50.

Pope said that other counties are raising their hourly rates for other cases. He said that Marquette increased their hourly rate to $75 and other counties have increased it higher still. He said that he wanted to bring this to the board’s attention because there will probably be an increase in costs to retain their attorneys.

He said that if the Gogebic County Court loses their current attorneys, they will have to search further away and that will also increase their costs.

However, Pope said that the Gogebic County Court is reducing their costs through things like virtual meetings. He said that the cost to the county for other cases was $113,000 in 2018-19, $98,000 in 2019-20 and $72,000 in 2020-21. He said they anticipate the costs will continue to fall, but they cannot guarantee it.

Pope said that the court is searching for other avenues of funding. They found a federal grant that will reimburse them for cases where the court has to remove the children from the home. He said that not every case, but it is a significant portion of them and that they used the grant to cover $14,000 in the first year and $13,000 this year. He said that they will continue applying for this grant.

Court Administrator Susan Mitchem also said that they also received a supplemental funding grant for about $22,000 that they used to upgrade the circuit court recording system. She said that any staff can be trained to operate the new system, so they no longer need certified reporters to document court proceedings.

She said that state funding will pay for electronic filing, allowing the public to handle most of their needs remotely. She said that they will now accept electronic payments. Previously, people had to come to the court in person or mail a check. She noted that many people don’t have checking accounts anymore.

Mitchem also said that they received a preliminary award letter for a $23,000 grant. They will use this to upgrade the courthouse annex, rehabilitate the space and improve security. Finally, she said that they accepted a $30,000 Raise the Age grant. She said that new legislation is raising the age of majority from 17 to 18, and there is funding for the increased costs. They will make some space modifications such as soundproofing. Mitchem said there were some existing issues from previous modifications that the money should allow them to resolve.

County board member Joe Bonovetz asked if there were many cases of 17-year-olds who were tried as adults who will now be legally considered juveniles. Pope said that he and District Court Judge Anna Talaska agreed that only cases after Oct. 1 will be transferred and existing cases will not be transferred.

The board also approved:

—A request from IT Director Brandon Tauer to raise his credit card limit from $2,000 to $5,000 to help pay vendors for their typical invoicing process.

—A request from the Gogebic-Iron County Airport to approve the 2021 Coronavirus Relief and Response Supplemental Appropriations Act for $13,000.

—A request for a credit card with a $2,000 limit for the incoming Gogebic County undersheriff, Jorge Cruz.

—A recommendation by the Gogebic County Fair Board to increase the board by one person.