CHARLESTON – Kanawha County needs help from attorneys to step up and become court-appointed legal counsel.
On December 30, Kanawha Circuit Court Judge Maryclaire Akers sent a letter to lawyers in Kanawha County asking for help by serving as court-appointed attorneys for indigent criminal defendants and as guardians ad litem for minor victims of abuse and neglect.
Akers’ letter was meant to make Kanawha County attorneys aware of the crisis that “directly impacts access to justice in our community.”
Akers
| File photo
She said the number of lawyers serving as court-appointed counsel has dropped from about 63 to 11 in the last 10 years.
“Kanawha County is currently in a situation where indigent defendants are in imminent danger of being denied their basic Constitutional rights, and children have no representation in situations of abuse and neglect,” Akers wrote. “Please consider voluntarily accepting court appointments as the need in Kanawha County is dire, and the impact on the community is profound.”
A week after the email was sent out, Akers said some attorneys have reached out to see what they can do.
“We have had several people step up,” Akers told The West Virginia Record. “It’s going in a positive way.
“When I first became a prosecutor in 1999, the court-appointed list had a lot of very experienced trial attorneys who were doing criminal cases as well as abuse and neglect cases. Over the years, people have retired or passed away, and we just haven’t seen a replenishment of the list or younger people willing to do the work.
“I’m not really sure why that is. But I think as a new lawyer, it can be daunting to take those kinds of cases. The other reason might be that a lot of attorneys are working on billable hours for private firms, and they’re trying to do what they’re being asked to do there.”
The court-appointed work isn’t pro bono work, but the pay is less than what attorneys would get working on private-sector cases.
“There is a statute that says what guardians ad litem and court-appointed criminal defense attorneys can make,” Akers said. “The pay isn’t a lot, but it’s public service and good experience.”
Akers also said it’s possible attorneys aren’t aware of the need.
“That’s why I sent the email to inform everybody,” said Akers, whose year as chief judge of the circuit ended December 31. “Otherwise, I don’t know how anybody would know.”
Over the years, Akers said there has been an incredible increase in the number of abuse and neglect cases. In 1999, there was one prosecutor who handled such cases. Now, there are eight.
“And we just added a new eighth circuit court judge to our new circuit, and we have three new magistrates,” she said. “No matter how many great lawyers we have, they just can’t handle it all. All of this only is increasing our need for people.
“The attorneys who are on the list now take on a tremendous amount of work and do a tremendous job. They just can’t be in 100 places at once.
And while this is a statewide problem, we shouldn’t have this problem in Kanawha County with the number of attorneys we have.”
Akers said she feels confident things will be moving in the right direction. She said local attorneys always like to help.
“They’re always willing to help when asked,” she said.