Janet Mills Signs Bill Adding Ten New Public Defenders Across Rural Maine

Maine Gov. Janet Mills on Thursday signed into law a bill that will expand the availability of public defenders in rural Maine to address a statewide shortage of eligible attorneys to represent indigent defendants.

The bipartisan legislation, LD 653, passed unanimously through the Legislature earlier this week, will create two new public defender offices to serve Aroostook, Penobscot, and Piscataquis counties, and will add ten new public defense attorneys — increasing the total number statewide from 15 to 25.

The Maine Commission on Indigent Legal Services, now renamed under the newly signed legislation the Maine Commission on Public Defense Services, is in charge of providing lawyers to defend indigent people in criminal cases, juvenile cases, child protective cases, involuntary commitment cases, and emancipation cases.

The Commission does not provide public defenders for civil cases such as divorce, eviction, or small claims.

As set forth in the bill, Maine currently faces a lack of criminal defense attorneys, resulting in more than 500 adult criminal defendants eligible for a court-appointed attorney being without counsel — of whom at least 150 are currently in custody.

Additionally, in at least ten District Court locations across the state, there are currently no attorneys eligible to represent juveniles charged with certain types of offenses, according to the bill.

“This legislation creates new public defender positions across communities in rural Maine and advances my commitment to improving the delivery of legal services to low-income people to ensure their Constitutional right to counsel,” Gov. Mills said Thursday.

“The right to counsel is one that I deeply value and have personally delivered myself, having represented low-income clients many times during my own legal career,” Mills said. “I thank the Legislature for passing this bill, which is consistent with my budget proposal, in such a timely manner.”

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Maine applauded the passage of LD 653, but said the two additional public defenders offices do not go far enough to provide indigent people with adequate representation.

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“The current system denies countless people their Sixth Amendment right to the effective assistance of counsel, ACLU of Maine Chief Counsel Zach Heiden said Thursday. “For years, Maine has relied entirely on private attorneys to meet its public constitutional obligations, but finally that is starting to change. LD 653 is a significant step forward for ensuring people in Maine have effective counsel.

“We call on Governor Mills to sign LD 653 into law and for the legislature to continue building upon this by funding public defense offices in all prosecutorial districts,” Heiden said.

The ACLU of Maine filed a Sixth Amendment lawsuit, Robbins v. MCILS, against the state’s public defender commission last year, accusing the state of failing to meet its “fundamental constitutional obligations” to provide indigent defendants with counsel.

The civil rights organization said Thursday that it intends to continue its lawsuit, adding that “merely having an attorney is not enough; the Constitution guarantees the effective assistance of counsel, which requires that attorney be appropriately evaluated, trained, supervised, and supported.”