Prince William Public Defender Bills Pass House, Senate: Report

PRINCE WILLIAM COUNTY, VA — Bills calling for the creation of a public defender's office in Prince William County and the cities of Manassas and Manassas Park won approval in the Virginia Generaly Assembly this week, the Prince Williams Times reported Wednesday. The Senate bill passed in a 33-7 vote on Monday and the House companion bill passed with unanimous support on Tuesday, according to the report.

Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam's two-year budget proposal provides $2.7 million in funding for the new office in Prince William County in both fiscal years 2021 and 2022 for 35 positions, the newspaper reported.

Prince William County is the only jurisdiction in Northern Virginia not served by a public defender's office. The county relies on court-appointed attorneys to represent defendants who cannot afford an attorney.

Under the bill, the Prince William Board of County Supervisors could decide to contribute additional local funding to supplement the salaries of public defenders. In the state, though, only four public defenders' offices — Alexandria, Arlington, Charlottesville and Fairfax — currently receive local funding, the Prince William Times reported.

According to state Sen. Scott Surovell, who sponsored the bill in the Senate, the Prince William County board has indicated it will supplement the salaries of attorneys at the new office, according to the newspaper.

Jurisdictions without a public defender's office, according to Surovell, often rely on low-paid court appointed counsel to provide representation to defendants who cannot afford an attorney.

Across Virginia, public defender's offices exist in more than 50 jurisdictions. But in the jurisdictions without a public defender's office, Virginia currently pays court-appointed attorneys $120 per district court misdemeanor and between $445 and $1,235 for felonies, depending on whether they are "non-serious" or punishable by more than 20 years.

In Virginia, the court-appointed counsel program is administered by the Supreme Court of Virginia. The budget for paying these attorneys comes out of the state budget. Public defenders, on the other hand, are state employees paid by Virginia. Local governments do not have authority to create them and, for fiscal reasons, would not want to solely take on the funding.

The new commonwealth's attorney for Prince William County, Amy Ashworth, also supports the proposal. "Bringing a public defenders office to Prince William County is a step in the right direction toward better access to justice for all 450,000-plus of my constituents," Ashworth said last year.