Suffolk sees shortfall to pay attorneys

Suffolk County has exhausted its nearly $3.7 million budget to pay private attorneys to represent indigent criminal and Family Court clients, leaving officials to scramble to find up to $500,000 to operate the program through the end of the year.

County Attorney Christine Malafi disclosed the shortfall in funding for the state-mandated program in a memo to Legis. Ricardo Montano (D-Central Islip), Ways and Means Committee chairman. The document came to light Wednesday as the committee considered a bill requiring payment to "18-B" lawyers within 60 days of service.

Malafi said she brought the issue to the county legislature because she does not have the $300,000 to $500,000 in her law department budget to make up the shortfall.

Malafi noted that the county executive's budget office has said it already faces difficulties in funding county health centers and the nursing home for the rest of the year.

However, she argued that "this is not a county attorney or a county executive problem -- it's a county problem. Access to justice is the most important thing we have beyond the right to vote."

18-B is the section of state law that requires counties to pay for attorneys for the indigent who are chosen by panels run by the county bar associations. Suffolk largely contracts with the Legal Aid Society for such services. However, the approximately 350 18-B lawyers in Suffolk are used in murder cases or when there is more than one litigant in a case and Legal Aid is already representing one side.

Malafi said that in the past, funding sometimes has run out in November but payment was simply postponed until the following year. However, the problem worsened this year when the county legislature, in amending the 2010 budget, removed $500,000 for 18-B lawyers and shifted the money to Legal Aid. That left a "much bigger hole" for 2011, she said.

David Besso, the county 18-B administrator, said he hopes Suffolk provides a supplemental budget because "the number of cases has exploded with the poor economy and more people qualifying" for services.