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'JUN 18 1996 Bou 64 u, -)E 754 In order -to operate this office within the resources pro- vided by the legislature, I cannot employ more than three Assis- tant Public Defenders for martin County; five Assistant Public Defenders for St. Lucie County; three Assistant Public Defenders for Indian River County; 1.75 Assistant Public Defenders for Okeechobee County; and, one Deputy Public Defender to coordinate and assist in representation of all capital cases throughout the•' Circuit. 3.75 positions are allocated to administrative functions, and the remainder of the personnel are assigned to investigative, secretarial, and clerical support functions throughout the four full time offices within this Circuit. In addition to the personnel authorized and funded as indi- cated above, we will need two additional attorneys in Martin County; three additional attorneys in St. Lucie County; and, two additional attorneys in Indian River County if we are to provide representation to all individuals entitled to public defender ser- vices throughout the Circuit. This is seven more positions than are presently authorized or funded for this office for Fiscal Year 1986-87. In view of all of these circumstance%, I am left with no al- ternative but to decline acceptance of appointments in misdemeanor cases in the County Court and juvenile cases in the Circuit Court of Martin, St. Lucie, and Indian River County after June 30, 1986. In analyzing the responsibilities of this office, I firmly believe that our first priority should be the providing of effective assis- tance of counsel in capital and non -capital felony cases. It is, my intention to give this responsibi.lity my utmost priority and to utilize such other resources as may be available to provide sup- port services, where feasible and necessary, throughout all the courts within this Circuit. All cases that have been assigned to this office prior to July 1, 1986, will continue to be handled by us until their conclusion. Since this can no longer be considered a short-term crisis situation, I have given careful consideration to available al- ternatives. Unfortunately, none of these are without relatively serious economic consequences. The existing situation has not been created by the courts, the counties, the prosecutors, or by MY office. It is solely a result of the growth within the 19th Judicial Circuit and the accompanying increase in crime. The following is a list of conceiveable alternatives that might be considered as available: Alternative No. 1: s. 27.53(2), Florida Statutes, pro- vides for special assignments without salary to members of The Florida Bar who have registered their availabil- ity to the.Public Defender as Special Assistant Public Defenders. Their fee, costs, and expenses are paid by the counties as provided in s. 925.036, Florida Statutes. It is not clear as to whether or not this type of assign- ment requires court approval or not. However, I do not consider this alternative acceptable since, without court approval, such an interpretation would be a unilateral decision on my part that such action be taken. Alternative No. 2: Appointment by the court of Special Assistant Public Defenders from the list of attorneys who have represented their availability upon our filing a Motion To Withdraw in each specific case pursuant to Kiernan v. State, 11 FLW at 608 and Escambia County v. Behr, 384 So.2d 147 (Fla. 1980). Again, these attor- neys would be entitled to a fee, costs, and expenses from the county as provided in s. 925.036, Florida Stat- utes. In the absence of acceptance of some other al- ternative, I anticipate that this will be the procedure followed as of July 1, 1986. 60