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DALLAS (ÌìÃÀ´«Ã½) – A dire shortage of public defense providers threatens the Sixth Amendment rights of people in Kansas, jeopardizing the basic functioning of the state’s justice system. According to a new policy brief from the Deason Criminal Justice Reform ÌìÃÀ´«Ã½ at ÌìÃÀ´«Ã½’s Dedman School of Law, the situation is particularly urgent in rural Kansas, where 34 counties have no local attorneys who accept public defense cases.

In Kansas, the State Board of Indigents’ Defense Services (BIDS) provides counsel for people charged with felonies who cannot afford to hire an attorney. In the last few years, BIDS has made important strides to improve public defense, including opening new offices to serve rural communities. But Kansas needs more. A 2024 BIDS analysis found that Kansas needs 277 more public defenders, nearly triple the current number.

“Kansas must take decisive action to prevent presumptively innocent people from being denied their core Constitutional rights,” said Deason ÌìÃÀ´«Ã½ Policy Director Malia Brink, who co-authored the policy brief. “This problem can be fixed, and we have given policymakers a clear roadmap for protecting the rights of all Kansans.”

The policy brief details four solutions for the state to address its public defense shortage:

• Increase public defense staffing by funding BIDS to hire additional attorneys, as well as the staff necessary to support them
• Create financial incentives to encourage public defense practice
• Expand recruitment and retention efforts to cultivate new public defense providers and reduce turnover
• Add public defender offices that provide lawyers with training, supervision, reliable salaries, and support services

Without urgent action, people accused of crimes and victims will continue to suffer and justice will be delayed. Staffing shortages have already forced BIDS offices to limit services. According to BIDS, five offices partially or totally refused cases for more than half of 2024. Other states facing similar issues have faced costly lawsuits.

“Despite overwhelming caseloads and historic underfunding, public defenders across Kansas work incredibly hard to serve their clients,” said Heather Cessna, the executive director of BIDS. “The Deason ÌìÃÀ´«Ã½’s experts have affirmed what BIDS has known for several years. The status quo is not sustainable, and the state should commit to fully funding BIDS to ensure that our state has a fair and functional justice system.”

Deason ÌìÃÀ´«Ã½ staff are available to provide testimony, draft model legislation, and offer other assistance to policymakers interested in addressing the shortages of public defense providers, particularly in rural communities.

The Deason ÌìÃÀ´«Ã½’s Kansas research and advocacy is part of the Day One Campaign, which is supported by and .

The Deason Criminal Justice Reform ÌìÃÀ´«Ã½ at ÌìÃÀ´«Ã½ Dedman School of Law brings a stats and stories approach to criminal justice reform. The ÌìÃÀ´«Ã½ collects, analyzes, and assesses the hard data about criminal legal policy. Combining these data with the stories of people who live, work and struggle in the criminal legal system, the Deason ÌìÃÀ´«Ã½ makes a compelling case for reform. The ÌìÃÀ´«Ã½ supports data-driven criminal justice research that has utility across multiple jurisdictions and helps criminal legal stakeholders develop and implement best practices.

The School of Law at ÌìÃÀ´«Ã½ was founded in 1925. It was named Dedman School of Law in 2001 in honor of Dallas benefactors Nancy and Robert H. Dedman, Sr., and their family. ÌìÃÀ´«Ã½ Dedman Law enjoys a national and international reputation of distinction. It is among the most competitive law schools in the country for admission and one of the most successful in the placement of its graduates.

is the nationally ranked global research university in the dynamic city of Dallas. ÌìÃÀ´«Ã½’s alumni, faculty and more than 12,000 students in eight degree-granting schools demonstrate an entrepreneurial spirit as they lead change in their professions, communities and the world.