American Samoa’s Constitution requires legal representation for indigent defendants, a service provided by the Office of the Public Defender. But for decades, the office has been struggling because of lack of funding.
When Acting Public Defender David Vargas testified on the PD’s budget for the new fiscal year, he repeated the same statements made by his predecessors. The office needs more funding.
The situation was exacerbated this year with the former PD, Michael White, quitting after working several months by himself as the sole attorney in the agency.
The proposed Fiscal Year 2023 budget for the agency office, which was prepared by White, is $453,000 for 8 people:
- $382,000 goes to salaries,
- $4,500 for materials and supplies,
- $4,000 for contractual services,
- $17,000 for travel,
- $3,000 for equipment,
- $42,500 for All Others.
For the current fiscal year, the budget for the PD’s Office is $440,000 for 9 people.
Vargas, who was appointed by Governor Lemanu four months ago, worked in the Public Defender’s Office when he first moved here more than 30 years ago, and then went into private practice.
He told lawmakers that a new female attorney has joined the office and he’s currently in contact with a magistrate from the US mainland, who has shown interest in the position of public defender.
Vargas said, the agency is representing more than 300 defendants many of whom are in the Territorial Correctional Facility because they can’t meet bail for pre trial confinement. Some cases date back to 2017.
Legislators asked why the Criminal Justice Planning Agency (CJPA) is funding attorney positions in the Attorney General’s Office, but not the Public Defender’s Office.
Vargas’ understanding is that the funding for CJPA is determined by its funder, the US Department of Justice.
He said, there was a time that CJPA did fund equipment for the agency but it never funded attorney positions for the PD’s Office.
Senator Togiola Tulafono gave this reaction.
Play Audio
Togiola informed the hearing that the court recently upped the rate for private attorneys to represent defendants to $130 an hour for in court, and $80 an hour for out of court services.
Private attorneys charge a minimum of $200 an hour.
