No More Waiting List for the Missouri Public Defender System Services
December 13, 2021 5:30AM CST
(Missourinet) Last year, the Missouri Public Defender System had more than 58-hundred cases on a waiting list for services. Director Mary Fox tells us no one is on the waiting list. The Missouri Legislature passed and Governor Parson signed into law a state budget this year that included hiring 53 public defenders to help get rid of the waiting list.
The waiting list was created in 2017. A court ruled that putting individuals on a waiting list to get public defender services violates state and federal law.