Chester County increases its budget for Sixth Judicial Circuit

The budgets for the Sixth Judicial Circuit solicitor and public defender offices are getting a boost from the Chester County Council, an action that could help reduce the backlog of cases.

The council increased the budgets for the solicitor’s and public defender’s offices to $100,980 each for the fiscal year that started July 1, said County Supervisor Shane Stuart.

Sixth Circuit Public Defender Mike Lifsey’s budget with Chester County was $58,000. He had requested $114,000.

“We couldn’t go that far, but we did get him a little over $100,000,” Stuart said.

Solicitor Randy Newman, whose county budget was $71,500, requested an additional $44,000.

“They got almost everything they asked for on the solicitor’s side,” Stuart said.

Newman and Lifsey, whose offices have grappled with similar funding problems, were grateful for the additional money.

“This is the first increase in the public defender’s budget since I took office in March 2009,” said Lifsey, who plans to hire a part-time attorney. “This is a significant increase. While it’s a part-time position this fiscal year, my hope is for the next fiscal year to be able to convert that into a full-time position.”

The Public Defender’s office has eight attorneys. Four are assigned to Lancaster County cases. One attorney each is assigned to Chester and Fairfield counties while one attorney splits time in those two counties. An eighth attorney handles juvenile cases for all three counties.

Newman said the additional funding will help keep the victim advocate position in his office which was funded by a grant.

“There’s a possibility we may add a part-time person, but I can’t guarantee that,” he said. “I’m happy. At this point, I’m willing to take baby steps if they are. We’re going to have to keep raising it in the future, but right now every little bit helps.”

The Sixth Circuit has one of the worst court backlogs in the state with about 5,000 pending cases. Newman acknowledged that people compare his circuit to the 16th Judicial Circuit, which includes York County and is the fastest circuit in the state at moving cases, with more than 90 percent going before a judge within a year.

Funding, which Newman called a hybrid of state and county sources, is a huge part of the backlog, he said.

“We’re the smallest circuit in the state, which means we get the least amount of (state) funding,” he said.

Another factor contributing to the backlog is lack of court time, Newman said. Chester County has only one week of General Sessions each month.

“We don’t have the staff to run more court time,” he said. “More staff means more court time.”

County Council decided that wasn’t an option, Newman said.

Now, he’s working with the other court personnel to move cases quicker. This includes partnering with Attorney General Alan Wilson’s office to alleviate some of the backlog and working with the S.C. Department of Probation, Parole and Pardon Services to prosecute repeat offenders. The U.S. Attorney’s Office is also willing to help, he said.

“I can’t say enough how appreciative I am of County Council for working with us,” he said. “I think it’s huge. I think we’re heading in the right direction.”

Lifsey said with all three counties in the circuit committed to increase funding, he expects the reduce the backlog during the next two years.

“A functioning criminal justice system is a core function of government,” he said. “I’m so pleased all three counties have recognized that and taken steps to increase the funding to both the solicitor’s office and to my office. I think there’s a new day on the horizon for the criminal justice system in the Sixth Circuit.”

This story was originally published July 4, 2015 at 5:21 PM with the headline "Chester County increases its budget for Sixth Judicial Circuit."