US News
Montana public defender backlog leads to delays in Great Falls city court
Judges and city officials report scheduling delays and extended jail stays as the state public defender's office faces staffing shortages and rising caseloads.
The short version
- Great Falls city court judges reported that a backlog in the Montana Office of the State Public Defender is causing case continuances and leaving some defendants in jail for weeks without legal counsel.
- Staffing shortages and higher caseloads have strained local capacity, with the Great Falls Municipal Court seeing its staff attorney headcount drop while handling a 56% increase in cases year-over-year.
- The public defender's office attributed the delays to hiring challenges, workload limits designed to manage attorney capacity, and a lack of available private contract attorneys.
Key facts
- During a July 21 budget meeting, Great Falls Municipal Judges Mark Dunn and Cassidy Blomgren stated that public defender assignment delays are causing court calendar backlogs and leaving some defendants without attorneys for 30 to 60 days.[Associated Press]
- Statewide data from the Montana Office of the State Public Defender shows that while 80% of clients were assigned attorneys within 14 days in fiscal year 2025, 5,727 clients waited longer, averaging up to 50 days.[Associated Press]
- The average wait time to receive a public defender in Great Falls Municipal Court is 13.7 days, compared to 23.8 days in Cascade County Justice Court and 5.7 days in the Eighth Judicial District Court.[Associated Press]
- In Great Falls Municipal Court, the public defender staff attorney count dropped from 11 attorneys handling 598 cases in 2024 to five attorneys handling 936 cases the following year.[Associated Press]
- Great Falls Chief Prosecutor Neil Anthon reported that roughly two defendants per week require trial continuances because they lack legal counsel.[Associated Press]
What remains uncertain
- It remains uncertain whether ongoing court scheduling delays will result in formal legal challenges regarding defendants' constitutional rights to a speedy trial.[Associated Press]