A decision to stop Minnesota public defenders from representing parents in child custody cases has left Minnesota counties holding the bill.

“Nobody is happy about it,” Meeker County Administrator Paul Virnig said. “I don’t think it’s an issue so much with public defender’s office as with the state as a whole.”

To balance a nearly $1 billion general fund deficit, state lawmakers last spring decreased several state office budgets, including the state public defenders office. A $3.8 million budget shortfall forced the Minnesota Board of Public Defense to reduce its staff by 15 percent, and as of July 8, public defenders stopped accepting child in need of protection cases or CHIPS, and termination of parental rights cases.

Because the state mandates that parents in child protection cases have access to an attorney if they can’t afford one, the public defenders office’s decision leaves only the county to pick up the legal costs.

The financial burden for Meeker County will be an additional $15,000 to $20,000 a year, Virnig said. This year, the money will come out of the county’s reserves, but in the future, it will be included in the general levy, he said.

Other Minnesota counties anticipate much higher burdens. Kandiyohi is expecting the shift to cost the county an additional $100,000 year, while Wright County estimated its cost to be $250,000. McLeod County’s estimate is $42,500 for 2009.

Read more about how the decision could affect the court system, as well as how the staff reduction affects local public defenders in the Aug. 7 Independent Review print edition.