BEDFORD – Chief Public Defender Tim Sledd stressed the improvements made to his office last year at the commissioners’ meeting Tuesday morning.
Sledd has held the position of Chief Public Defender for a year. As agency chief, Sledd oversees the staff of defense attorneys, monitors caseloads, meets reporting requirements of the Indiana Public Defender Commission, and prepares an annual budget.
The commissioners praised Sledd for his work.
“Thank you… realizing where we were five years ago and now to see it working so smoothly,” said Vice President Rodney Fish.
“It is nice to see you have delivered on all your promises,” added Commissioner Dustin Gabhart.
The department is now fully staffed at its new location at Courthouse Plaza.
“This was a big, important move, and everything works well. When we were at Dunn Plaza, it sometimes took days for a client to come in and make contact,” said Sledd.
The restructuring of his office is working and saving the county money.
In 2022, the county was reimbursed $382,000. In 2023, the county received $402,000.
“The organization was understaffed, we were contracting out public defenders costing the county $100 plus an hour and clients were not seeing their attorneys,” Sledd added. “That has all changed. We are fully staffed, we are handling the caseloads assigned by the courts, and our clients are seeing their attorneys. I am working hard to minimize costs to the county and we are maximizing performance.”
The public defender’s office is seeing more serious cases than in 2022. A Level 1 felony is very serious, while a Level 6 felony is a lower offense.
In 2023, lawyers defended 21 Level 1 and 2 Felony cases compared to nine in 2022, 40 Level 3 and 4 felony cases compared to 38 in 2022, and 84 Level 5 felony cases compared to 75 in 2022.
“We had one murder case in 2022 and one in 2023,” Sledd added.
The Public Defender’s Officer continues to work with Sheriff Greg Day, the jail staff, and the courts to help keep the jail population down.
“Everyone is working efficiently and working to keep the jail population down,” added Sledd. “We can get in and see our clients quickly and get their cases moving along.”
CHINS cases require an average of two to three or more public defenders. The child and any parents or guardians are issued an attorney in those cases. These counts do not include informally resolved cases at an initial hearing. In 2023, there were 137 cases, and in 2022, there were 199 cases.
