By DEBRA HAIGHT
BCR Correspondent
ST. JOSEPH – Court related programs were a major focus of discussion at last week’s Berrien County Board of Commissioners meeting. Commissioners took actions related to the Friend of the Court and Public Defenders Office.
Commissioners approved consolidating child support functions from the Berrien County Prosecutor’s Office into the Friend of the Court. The Friend of the Court office investigates, reports and make recommendations involving custody, parenting and support matters and also enforces all custody orders entered by the court.
Friend of the Court Director Tom Watson gave background information to the County Board’s Administration Committee last week just prior to the county board action approving two consolidation related resolutions.
The first resolution approved by the county board allows for the consolidation of two state grants that previously funded programs within both the Prosecutor’s Office and the Friend of the Court. The Michigan Department of Health and Human Services is now providing a $2.7 million grant to fund the consolidated program through Sept. 30, 2021.
Watson noted that state legislation enacted in 2014 allows for the child support functions from both offices be combined upon the approval of the Berrien County Chief Judge, the Berrien County Prosecutor and the Friend of the Court.
Watson said a new two or three year contract will then be approved moving forward after Sept. 30. He said the grant amount usually increases according to the rate of inflation and covers all personnel costs including benefits.
The other resolution approved by the county board last week had a similar premise: the consolidation of programs and services into the Friend of the Court. That resolution calls for the consolidation of the two contracts the Prosecutor and the Friend of the Court had with MGT of America Consulting LLC for financial related services. The cost of the combined contract is $10,000 annually plus up to $5,000 for additional services.
Watson also formally announced that he plans to retire at the end of July. “I’m going to be retiring July 30 and the position has been posted,” he said. “My years with the court, over 21 years, have been nothing short of incredible,” he said. “I’ve enjoyed my working relationship with all of you, you’ve been absolutely incredibly supportive.”
The other major item addressed by the administration committee and the full county board concerned the county’s Public Defender’s Office. The Public Defender’s Office was established in 2017 to better provide representation to indigent criminal clients. The county has been a leader in the state in meeting state standards for indigent defense.
Attorney Paul Jancha, Jr. has headed the Public Defender’s Office since last year. He updated the administration committee on his office’s activities including what’s involved in meeting a new state standard, the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic and staffing matters.
The resolution approved by the county board allows for the submission of an annual grant request to the Michigan Indigent Defense Commission. Jancha reported that the grant request for the 2022 fiscal year beginning Oct. 1 is for $4.08 million from the state with the county’s share being over $569,000.
He noted that the grant request for the 2022 fiscal year is more than the current year primarily because of the issues mentioned above. The Berrien County Public Defender’s Office was awarded $2.5 million for the 2021 fiscal year with the county’s share at nearly $575,000. He said the local share goes down every year.
Jancha said the coming year’s grant request is more for a couple of reasons. One reason is that the MIDC has issued a new standard which has the public defender’s office handling requests for court appointed counsel rather than the trial judge. That standard goes into effect Oct. 1 and will require more staffing from his office.
The public defender’s office attorneys will be going to the jail every day to conduct interviews with defendants to see if they qualify for court appointed counsel. He said he’s requesting two additional entry level attorneys to do that work as well as an additional social worker and a job upgrade for his office manager. Her new title will be office administrator.
Jancha said the one social worker his office has had since October has worked out so well that he wants to another one. “It’s part of our holistic defense philosophy as we try to help people with their situations in life,” he said. “We help people address housing, employment, substance abuse, transportation and other issues.”
He said the social worker already in place has helped the attorneys in giving background for sentencing memoranda and recommendations on reducing recidivism. “She could really use some help which would also help us better implement that holistic approach,” he said.
Jancha also spoke about the pandemic’s effect on his office and the trial court in general as well as the work his office does for juvenile offenders. The MIDC does not cover the juvenile and Family Division related costs and the county approved paying the public defender’s office an additional $9,720 for that work.
As for the pandemic, he said it has created a big backlog with jury trials postponed for months. He said there’s a backlog of 700 to 800 cases and only a handful have been done since jury trials resumed in March. His office’s budget has been strained as attorneys prepare for trials that get postponed and they then pay contract attorneys for the extra work.
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