Deschutes County Circuit Court

The 9 a.m. arraignment docket Thursday morning was routine. All but one of the cases in Courtroom G were felonies: property and identity thefts, assaulting a public safety officer, tampering with drug records.

Eight defendants were on call to see Deschutes County Circuit Court Judge Walter Miller. Some were there in person, sitting mostly quietly on wooden benches that resembled church pews. The rest waited to appear by video.

“Did you want the court to appoint you an attorney?” the court clerk asked each defendant who walked through the wooden doors of the courtroom.

By the end of their time in Miller’s courtroom, the defendants who answered yes, and met income qualifications, would usually have a public defense attorney representing them.

That’s not the case anymore in Deschutes County.

Instead, Miller, and all the judges in Deschutes County, must now tell the accused that come before their benches that there are no attorneys immediately available to defend them.

On Thursday, all but two defendants — one who denied his right to an attorney and another who retained his own — will likely wait another month before having another opportunity to be appointed a public defender.

But it’s not a given they’ll have an attorney even then. Because of a shortage of public defenders statewide, what was a problem weeks ago is now a full blown crisis as the list of defendants without representation grows longer by the day. The Oregon Public Defense Commission in March stated that the state has about 47% of the public defenders it needs.

On Tuesday, a list of 41 cases appeared before Presiding Judge Wells Ashby, all in need of defense. Eight defendants comprising 14 cases have been appointed attorneys since then, trial court administrator Angie Curtis said Thursday.

The byproduct of a growing list of unrepresented defendants could mean a backlog of cases in the local criminal justice system, much like the 1,400-case backlog that occurred after the COVID-19 pandemic, said Deschutes County District Attorney Steve Gunnels, whose office files criminal charges against the accused.

In July 2023, roughly four cases in Deschutes County didn’t have attorneys representing them. A month ago, it was around 20 cases, according to Oregon Judicial Department data. That number was at 92 cases as of Friday.

“The problem in Deschutes County is bad,” Gunnels said.

Dozens of cases have slipped through the cracks in the past two months, he said.

Delayed justice

Another byproduct of the growing list of unrepresented defendants is delayed justice — not only for the defendants themselves but also for the victims of the alleged crimes.

Deschutes County’s public defender shortage has been an “incredibly impactful thing” for victims, said Ashley Beatty, the Victims Assistance Program manger with the district attorney’s office.

Among the long list of people awaiting representation are some who have allegedly committed domestic violence crimes — assault, strangulation and coercion, among others. Some could be released from jail because they don’t have an attorney, court records indicate.

“When they’re in jail, you know you’re safe,” said Trish Meyer, the assistant executive director of Saving Grace, a nonprofit organization serving victims of domestic violence across Central Oregon.

“The minute they’re out of jail, it completely changes your ability to move through everyday life,” she said.

Meyer said an alleged offender’s jail time, whether before, during or after criminal prosecution, affords victims the chance to recoup and plan for safety. They often have to address a variety of things in the aftermath of domestic violence, like new housing, possible job loss, childcare and counseling, which all must be planned for, she said.

But if an alleged offender is released from jail, victims go about life constantly looking over their shoulders, she said. It heightens the risk level for victims, too, she said.

“And we have seen this, where an offender is arrested on a domestic violence charge, they are placed in jail, they are released from jail and they reoffend before their first case has ever gone to a court,” Meyer said.

Justice looks different for every survivor, and adequate access to justice has been a longtime issue, she said.

Oregon has a fragmented, under-resourced service system for domestic violence survivors that often fails them, according to an October 2023 report from the Oregon Secretary of State’s office.

More than one-third of Oregon adults experience domestic violence in their life, the report said. In Central Oregon, around 12% of people surveyed during the 2024 point-in-time count, which is a census of people experiencing homelessness, said they were homeless because they were fleeing domestic violence.

“And now, it’s even more dire circumstances with the public defender shortage,” Meyer said.

A broken system

The Oregon Public Defense Commission is aware of Deschutes County’s plight. Gunnels, the district attorney, said his office has been in direct communication with the commission to explain that the system is broken.

The problem will persist unless the commission and the state of Oregon change their approach to how defense attorneys are appointed to indigent cases, he said.

At present, the commission sets a limit on the number of cases a firm or an attorney can take on in a given time period.

“But that’s not how crime works,” Gunnels said. “Crime happens and cases come in as they come in, and setting an artificial limit per month and per year makes no sense when the needs of the system are not met by whatever metric is being imposed.”

If you or someone you know is in need of help

• Visit saving-grace.org for more information on Saving Grace, which serves survivors of domestic violence across Central Oregon.

• Call Saving Grace’s 24-hour helpline at (541) 389-7021 for immediate help. It is monitored by trained members of Saving Grace’s team who can help with counseling services, navigating the legal system, community resources and referrals, crisis intervention, safety planning and access to emergency safe shelter.

• Call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 800-799-7233, text BEGIN to 88788 or visit thehotline.org for 27/7 access to domestic violence support resources.