During this month’s Judiciary Committee Meeting, Madison County Public Defender Mary Copeland reported that her office is struggling to fill open positions.
She explained that the Public Defender's Office is busy, but their biggest struggle is finding experienced attorneys to fill two vacant positions.
“I don’t know if … the labor shortage is affecting the attorneys,” she said during the Nov. 5 meeting.
Copeland said one position has been listed as vacant for almost three months, and they’ve received “almost no applicants.”
The second position became vacant when another attorney resigned recently.
“We’re swamped to say the least,” she said.
Copeland said they are getting creative to spread the word about the job listings.
“I thought I might have trouble finding experienced attorneys who would work for the salary I can offer,” she said.
“But I thought I would get a lot more law students graduating, but I’m getting virtually nothing,” she added.
Copeland previously reported that the Public Defender’s Office was trying to work through a backlog of cases as a result of the court’s Covid-19 mitigation efforts and closures.