MT: re-apply and get in line

Team-building and morale building in Montana...

State eliminating top positions in public defender offices:

All of the chief public defenders and deputy chief public defenders in Montana's counties will lose their jobs July 1.

Montana Chief Public Defender Randi Hood eliminated the top two positions in all of the state's public defenders' offices as part of a new statewide public defense system.

"There is no place in this structure for what are known as chief public defenders and deputy chief public defenders," Hood wrote in a letter to Gallatin County's Chief Public Defender Mariah Eastman. "You, and anyone else so designated ... will not be coming into the new system on July 1," she wrote.

And then she sealed the letter with a big kiss.

Over in Great Falls, not waiting for obsolescence, the chief public defender dusted off his copy of "What Color is Your Parachute?" and made the leap to the state office early, leaving the county in a bit of a lurch.

Public defender resigns:

The resignation of the county's chief public defender stirred concern among Cascade County Commissioners Wednesday as Montana makes the transition to a new state-run public defender system.

(Curiously, my resignation as my county's chief public defender stirred nothing but a spontaneous dance of a merry jig.)

Chief Public Defender Eric Olson announced Tuesday that he is taking a job as the training coordinator with the state's new public-defender system. He begins March 1 in Missoula.

The state is scheduled to take control of the public's legal representation five months from now. In the meantime, county commissioners must hire an attorney to cover the chief defender's overwhelming caseload... "It's an unexpected issue before us," County Commissioner Joe Briggs said.

The 2005 Legislature voted to implement a statewide public defender system — headquartered in Butte and set to begin July 1... The state will be divided into 11 regions, with Cascade County falling into the 9th District. Randi Hood of Helena was named the state's Chief Public Defender in October 2005. A regional administrator will head each of the 11 regions districts.

In the meantime, commissioners agree they are stuck hiring a public defender, but can't guarantee that the person will still have a job five months down the road when the state takes over.

Attorney General Mike McGrath issued an opinion in December saying that the law does not require the new state public defender system to retain any of the current public defenders.

"We are concerned about our employees and how they are treated in the changeover," Commissioner Peggy Beltrone said.

Beltrone hopes the state will participate in the hiring process so that the new defender has a better chance of keeping their job under the state it takes over.

Otherwise, "Who will apply?" she asked.

Well, would you?