From Source NM:
New Mexico’s public defenders say they have too many clients and nowhere near enough attorneys to represent them. Without more funding from state lawmakers, they say people accused of crimes are losing out on their constitutional rights to adequate defense and due process.
When someone is charged with a crime in New Mexico, there is a good chance that they can’t afford their own attorney and must be provided one by the state.
And among those attorneys, many are not actually employed by the state Law Offices of the Public Defender but are contractors instead.
And when a contractor takes on, for example, a first-degree murder case, they are paid a base rate of $5,400. For the whole case.
That means, on average, that attorney is making $13.81 per hour representing their client, according to a study of New Mexico public defenders’ workloads published in January Continue reading >>>
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