Wyandotte County District Attorney Mark A. Dupree is supporting a public defender’s office in Wyandotte County.
Dupree sent out an open letter on Friday before a public open forum on Saturday, Jan. 22, by the Kansas Board of Indigent Services. The forum will be from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday at the Upper Jewell room at KCKCC, 7250 State Ave., Kansas City, Kansas.
The public may address the board at the hearing. After the hearing, a vote will be taken most likely in early to mid-February by the board on a public defender’s office for Wyandotte County.
Public comments will be limited to 3 minutes per person. KCKCC will require everyone attending to have a properly worn face mask because of COVID-19. Social distancing will be requested. Space could be limited and the public will be admitted first-come, first-serve.
The board will not debate the issue during the hearing. The state board is not holding a livestream of this event.
Dupree’s letter:
A Public Defender’s Office in Wyandotte County, Kansas is the Missing Link for Justice
“The framers of the Constitution describe in the preamble an idea of creating a “more perfect union.” This acknowledgement of striving for better is the spirit in which I offer an insider’s view of the Wyandotte County criminal justice system.
“The criminal justice system here is functioning, but nowhere near its potential. The process is shrouded in secrecy which creates appearances of impropriety. Wyandotte County does not have an organized and centralized process to appoint indigent people accused of a crime a constitutionally guaranteed attorney. Instead, every Judge keeps a list of attorneys, and each one has his or her own process for appointing attorneys to cases.
“In this country, every person, regardless of ethnicity, gender, or socioeconomic status, has the right to competent representation. In Kansas, the State Board of Indigent Defense Services (BIDS) is responsible for providing public defense services through a hybrid of public defender’s offices and contracted attorneys.
“Concerned with disparities in the criminal justice system, Governor Laura Kelly recommended in the Governor’s Commission on Racial Equity and Justice Initial Report that counties with populations greater than 100,000 should have a public defender’s office.
“BIDS has multiple offices throughout the state. Just last year, BIDS approved another public defender’s office in Douglas County. Unfortunately, counties with lower populations and higher median household incomes have public defender offices. Yet, Wyandotte, a county with a population of 165,245, only has contracted attorneys.
“Defendants here continue to suffer the consequences.
“The citizens of Wyandotte County deserve access to the same resources provided to more affluent and less racially diverse counties. A properly funded public defender’s office in Wyandotte County would not only address inequities, but would assure efficiency, oversight, and fiscal responsibility. This would begin to capture the idea of a ‘more perfect’ union.
“Crime victims in Wyandotte County would also benefit from a public defender’s office because they would receive speedier justice. A person arrested for a crime is in-custody for an average of 16 days without an attorney.
“Delays continue after a contracted attorney is appointed because cases get continued for several weeks on scheduling dockets, sometimes more than 90 days. Victims must wait until the contracted attorney schedules a hearing. These delays cause the victims’ voices to be silenced for far too long. Delays can also infringe on rights that are afforded to victims under the Crime Victim’s Bill of Rights.
“Currently, contracted attorneys in Wyandotte County are not present at first appearances. A public defender would be available for first appearances and would assure constitutional protections for defendants and prompt access to the legal system for victims.
“Those charged with low-level, presumptive probation crimes are those who if found guilty on all counts of the crime they are accused of committing, would receive probation. In reviewing cases from 2019–2021, Wyandotte County spent about $1.3 million dollars to incarcerate the above-mentioned individuals, of which the majority had appointed attorneys that never requested a bond reduction. The jail should be reserved for serious offenders that pose serious risks to the community.
“Unnecessary and extended pretrial incarceration is costly to taxpayers, and victims, alike. A public defender’s office brings fiscal responsibility to the community. “Public defenders are consistently the most effective and cost-effective manner in providing public defense.”2
“Funds could be redirected from housing low-level, probationary defendants to providing better services to victims and survivors of crime.
“Victims deserve timely resolutions, and this can be achieved with a public defender’s office. Now is the time because the longer a case takes to prosecute, the less willing to participate witnesses become. In the past five years, the Wyandotte County District Attorney’s office has experienced an increase of victims no longer wishing to continue with the prosecution of the case because of these delays. They say they are ready to move on. They don’t want to relive the trauma.
“Justice delayed is justice denied for victims in our community. We must do better; Wyandotte County needs a public defender’s office, and with the support of the community we can fix the link in the broken criminal justice chain.”
Be Blessed.
Mark A. Dupree
Wyandotte County District Attorney
1 Information taken from the U.S. Census Bureau – population estimates, July 1, 2021
2 A Report on the Status of Public Defense in Kansas, September 2020, available at: Report 9-30-2020.pdf (sbids.org) (last viewed 1/19/2022). In 2019, the average cost of a public defender case was $659 per case while the average cost of an assigned counsel case was $941. In 2019, assigned counsel cases cost, on average $282 more per case than a case handled by a public defender. In 2020, the average cost of a public defender case was $818 while the average cost of an assigned counsel case was $993. So, in 2020, assigned counsel cases cost, on average, $175 more per case than a case handled by a public defender.