State to shut down Fort Dodge public defender's office in efficiency move

The Office of the State Public Defender is closing its Fort Dodge office in an operational-efficiency measure, although a state official says there are no plans to shut down any other regional Iowa offices.

The State Public Defender is responsible for coordinating Iowa's indigent defense system, ensuring that poor Iowans are represented by lawyers in criminal and juvenile court proceedings and other eligible cases. There are 18 local public defender offices statewide and a state appellate defender's office, and about 840 private attorneys are court-appointed to provide representation.

The Fort Dodge office will close in late September, following the departure of two lawyers and the appointment of supervisor Joe McCarville as an associate district court judge, said Kurt Swaim, first assistant for the State Public Defender. 

"The Fort Dodge office was basically left with no attorneys, so we had a secretary and an investigator. So to promote operational effectiveness, the state's public defender decided to reassign them to Nevada," Swaim said. 

The Nevada office will handle some of the court cases, and private attorneys will assume additional work, Swaim said. The exact amount of the cost savings hasn't been determined yet.

"It could be a permanent decision, but I don't think the state public defender has made it at this point," Swaim said. He added that he is not aware of any other public defender's offices being targeted for closure because of budgetary reasons.

Ryan Baldridge, first assistant Webster County attorney in Fort Dodge, said County Attorney Jennifer Benson views the closing of the Fort Dodge public defender's office as a "huge disservice" to the public.

"There are a handful of defense attorneys here in Webster County that handle criminal appointments. I just don't know if there are enough private attorneys to pick up all of the slack,"  Baldridge said.

He also expressed skepticism whether it would be as effective to hire private attorneys to handle cases as opposed to having in-house counsel from the public defender's office representing indigent clients.

State Sen. Tim Kraayenbrink, R-Fort Dodge, said he was disappointed to learn the Fort Dodge office will close, but he respects the ability of state officials to manage the state public defender's office as they see fit.

"We have to give them the latitude to be able to do what they feel is right," he said.