Public Defender refuses cases due to budget fight
Published May 09, 2025
Despite the Public Defender's budget doubling over the past ten years, the office now claims it can't accommodate a 15% budget cut and has announced it will stop taking cases one day per week.
The Facts
The San Francisco Public Defender's Office has announced that it will stop taking cases one day per week in protest of a proposed 15% budget cut. The office claims that its attorneys are already overworked due to a recent spike in felony cases against drug dealers.
The Context
Due to a billion dollar budget deficit, Mayor Lurie asked every department to cut 15% of their budgets.
Over the past ten years, the budget for the Public Defender has increased by 80%—from about $27 million in 2012-13, to about $49 million in 2022-23— and headcount by 40%—from 156 to 220 full-time staff—despite caseload remaining largely flat. The proposed budget cut would reduce the office's budget from \$49 million to \$42 million, or about the budget it had just before COVID.
Every person accused of a crime in the United States has the right to an attorney, and the Public Defender's Office is responsible for providing that service to those who cannot afford private counsel. The decision to stop taking cases is a drastic measure in an ongoing budget negotiation.
| Fiscal Year | Felony cases | Misdemeanors | Staffing (FTE) | Budget | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2012 | 8,857 | 4,635 | 158 | $26,794,188 | San Francisco Public Defender 2013-2015 Budget |
| 2013 | 9,448 | 5,109 | 157 | $28,871,157 | San Francisco Public Defender 2013-2015 Budget |
| 2014 | 8,612 | 4,495 | 156 | $29,766,787 | San Francisco Public Defender 2013-2015 Budget |
| 2015 | 8,862 | 5,024 | 156 | $31,915,071 (estimated) | San Francisco Performance Results for Fiscal Year 2017-18 |
| 2016 | 9,159 | 5,062 | 156 | $34,063,356 (estimated) | San Francisco Performance Results for Fiscal Year 2017-18 |
| 2017 | 9,697 | 4,482 | 160 | $36,211,640 | FY2017-18 Budget |
| 2018 | 10,098 | 4,486 | 186 | $38,857,241 | FY 2020-21 Public Defender Annual Report |
| 2019 | 9,128 | 3,874 | 189 | $41,273,445 | FY 2020-21 Public Defender Annual Report |
| 2020 | 8,238 | 3,530 | 199 | $42,256,703 | FY 2020-21 Public Defender Annual Report |
| 2021 | 7,827 | 3,500 | 209 | $45,292,551 | SF Performance Dashboard |
| 2022 | 5,838 | 4,636 | 209 | $50,185,337 | SF Performance Dashboard |
| 2023 | 7,701 | 4,575 | SF Performance Dashboard |
The GrowSF Take
The Public Defender's office appears to be misrepresenting the facts and playing politics with the lives of people who need legal representation. The office has had a massive budget increase over the past ten years, and the proposed cut is only to bring it back to pre-COVID levels. The Public Defender's office should be focused on providing quality legal representation, not playing political games.