The public defender state office says a budget crisis is preventing it from providing contract defenders for indigent defendants who aren't jailed.
The Albuquerque Journal reports that Chief Public Defender Jorge Alvarado recently sent to chief judges statewide saying the predicted budget crisis had materialized for his office.
Contract defenders typically are hired when there is more than one defendant in a case, or in rural areas such as Lincoln or Cibola counties. Those are places where the Law Office of the Public Defender doesn't have staff.
The move could lead to a lawsuit.
The New Mexico Public Defender Commission has a special meeting on Wednesday in Albuquerque at the University of New Mexico School of Law.
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Information from: Albuquerque Journal, http://www.abqjournal.com
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