The Deschutes County Courthouse.

Legislators, lawyers and anybody concerned about Oregon’s justice system are not going to forget that there is a public defender crisis. It pokes out, unwanted and loud.

But we’ve been trying to keep going back to the hearings for unrepresented defendants Tuesday mornings at Deschutes County Courthouse, just the same.

There was a slight relief at Tuesday’s hearing. Deschutes County District Attorney Steve Gunnels pointed out that the number of cases on the docket was about half what it was last week. And if you look at the records tracked by the state for unrepresented defendants in Deschutes County, there was a rough parallel. There were 12 people in custody without a public defender in Deschutes County Jail on June 4 and only 3 on June 11.

Improvement! Let’s wait and see, though, before we start celebrating.

We counted seven defendants Tuesday appearing in court with no attorney present. The Oregon Public Defense Commission had been unable to provide one, a longstanding problem in the state that has become more acute.

Two of the seven failed to appear in court. The two had both been charged with misdemeanors — one for giving false liability insurance to police and another for driving while license was suspended or revoked.

Deschutes County Circuit Court Presiding Judge Wells Ashby issued an indictment of a sort of his own during Tuesday’s hearing. Speaking of the Oregon Public Defense Commission’s ability to provide attorneys for defendants who need them, he explained to a defendant: “We have greater success trying to do it ourselves.”