By Dave Baumeister
County correspondent
SIOUX FALLS – When the Minnehaha County Commission met two weeks ago, commissioners heard reports from the prosecution and incarceration sides of the county’s law enforcement.
This week, they heard about what county services were doing for the accused.
During their annual reports, Public Advocate Julie Hofer and Public Defender Traci Smith filled commissioners in on what their offices accomplished in 2023.
As they explained, their jobs are based on the U.S. Supreme Court decision in Gideon vs. Wainwright in 1963 which held that under the sixth and 14th amendments of the country’s Constitution, “anyone facing incarceration has the right to an attorney.”
Smith and Hofer each discussed the benefits of their offices and explained how accused people have rights when seeking a court-appointed attorney.
Those accused of committing a crime can use the services of the public advocate’s office, the public defender’s office or that of a court-appointed private attorney.
However, Hofer said, with an annual budget of almost $1.5 million for 2023, the public advocate’s office closed a total of 2,265 cases for an average of $635 per case.
In contrast, Smith pointed out that private attorneys appointed by the county charge an average of $115 per hour for legal work, making the county office options much more cost-efficient.
Although these services are not free for the people needing them, the county can still end up footing the bill in many cases.
People who use these services are charged for them, but the final decision on what, if anything, they should pay rests with the courts.
While attorneys have to be provided, Smith said that in the end, a hearing determines what people need to pay, and if someone is found to be indigent, then the cost may fall completely on the county.
Otherwise, liens are put on a defendant’s property until the bill is satisfied.
In the end, Hofer said based on what she sees now, her FY2025 budget request would only be for an additional $1,000 for legal research.
Smith said the public defender’s office would be asking for an increase of the cost of two new full-time investigators, bringing that county office to a total of three investigators.
She also added that when the number of accused people in 2023 is multiplied by the number of days they spent in jail before going to trial, it represents 5,000 days that people who could not make bail and never ended up going to the state penitentiary spend behind bars.
Those people – who may not have been guilty of committing a crime – were kept in the jail and cost Minnehaha County a minimum of $80 per day, or $400,000 for the year.
Smith then talked about alternatives to jail or prison and said, “We have to stop looking at successes in terms of the number of incarcerations.”
Smith ended her presentation by saying, “With support, the Public Defender can ensure a contemporary, humane and evidence-based equitable legal system.”
The next commission meeting will be at 9 a.m. on Tuesday, May 28, at the Minnehaha County Administration Building at 6th and Minnesota in Sioux Falls.
There will not be a meeting on June 4, as the commission traditionally never meets on county election days.
