SANTA CRUZ >> The Biggam Christensen & Minsloff law firm — 25 attorneys employed by the county to represent court cases for people who cannot afford to hire counsel — probably won’t be the county’s public defender forever, according to a Santa Cruz County civil grand jury report released Thursday.
The county should gather data on the public defender’s performance to plan, when necessary, an in-house operation when such a system is necessary, according to “Our Public Defender System: Anticipating Structural Change.”
The grand jury is a citizen’s panel with legal authority to examine any elements of special districts, and city and county governments. The grand jury’s findings are meant to improve government operations.
The report was mostly congratulatory toward the law firm.
The grand jury found that, despite the lack of objective data for performance, the firm’s attorneys are “prompt, prepared, organized, collegial and effective advocates for their clients.”
Law firm founder Larry Biggam said his staff’s performance is measured daily by judges.
“We encourage and track trials and motions to protect people’s constitutional rights,” Biggam said. “Unlike many other counties, the county of Santa Cruz has not suffered a wrongful conviction lawsuit — which can be very expensive — during the 43 years that we have had the indigent defense contract.”
This month, Santa Cruz County Board of Supervisors approved amendments to the public defender contracts to transition to a new model starting fiscal year 2021-22. The amendments give the county three years — from 2019 to 2022 — to collect information on the firm’s performance, according to the grand jury report.
“Without measuring the performance of the current contract public defender system, Santa Cruz County will not be able to meaningfully compare the result of transitioning to a different ... system,” according to the report.
The county currently budgets $12 million in expenditures for the public defenders.
The report recommends the county to establish a commission comprised of stakeholders to identify performance measures the county should collect regarding its public defenders, according to the report.
Biggam created his law firm in 1975 to submit a proposal for public defender services to the county. The county has not solicited proposals for public defender services since the contract first was affirmed, according to the report.
Biggam and his team of attorneys have had a steady total of felony cases the last three fiscal years: 109 felony cases in fiscal year 2016; 111 such cases the next fiscal year; and 109 so far in the current fiscal year, according to the grand jury report.
This caseload is within the standards established by the National Advisory Commission on Criminal Justice Standards and Goals, according to the report.
June 21, 2018
Santa Cruz Sentinel
By Michael Todd
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