Children who are accused of crimes have the right to be represented by an attorney, just like adults do. Each of Ohio’s 88 counties gets to choose whether to provide public defenders, use non-profit lawyers or appoint private attorneys to handle the cases. State and local governments share the costs, with the state reimbursing counties for most of what’s spent.
Ohio’s most recent budget includes $366 million to pay for public defenders, private attorneys and their costs for representing both children and adults for a two-year period.
The state also sets rules on how courts are supposed to fairly pick private attorneys to handle cases and make sure they are properly qualified.
How does Cuyahoga County Juvenile Court assign attorneys to children accused of crimes?
The six juvenile court judges decide whether to assign the public defender’s office or appoint a private attorney to represent a child in a delinquency case, which involves a child accused of a crime. (Public defenders also represent parents in cases involving abuse, neglect and dependency cases if they don’t have their own lawyer.)
In recent years, the court has assigned only a fraction of delinquency cases to county public defenders, anywhere from 28% to 35%, according to data from the public defender’s office and the juvenile court.
In 2023, following prodding from Cuyahoga County Public Defender Cullen Sweeney, the court started to assign more cases to public defenders. Administrative Judge Thomas F. O’Malley said the court would assign cases with case numbers ending in odd numbers – 1, 3, 5 and 7 – to public defenders and appoint the rest to private attorneys. That’s similar to how the county’s court assigns attorneys in adult criminal cases.
The exception is when there is a conflict for the public defender’s office or the private attorney.
When two or more kids are charged in the same case, the public defender’s office can’t represent both children because they could potentially be a witness for or against the other child. The office also can’t represent a child charged with victimizing another client they currently represent.
Ohio sets rules courts must follow when they pick private attorneys to represent clients
The process of picking private attorneys to represent clients is supposed to be “free from influence” by judges, elected officials or anyone involved in prosecuting cases. Each court is supposed to set rules to make sure cases are widely distributed to people on a list of approved attorneys who meet the required qualifications to take cases. It’s supposed to be a “rare occasion” for a court to select a specific attorney for a case or client, according to state rules.
Courts also are supposed to:
- Have a written process to review attorney qualifications and to include or take names off of appointed counsel lists
- Maintain a record of all appointments, qualifications and refusals to accept appointments
- Regularly review the assignment process to make sure it is equitable
In Cuyahoga County Juvenile Court, there isn’t a centralized process for assigning attorneys.
Judges who make assignments are supposed to use an alphabetical list of qualified assigned attorneys and go down the list selecting the next available attorney, according to rules posted on the court’s website.
In unique circumstances or to “facilitate the expeditious management of the docket,” they can pick any person from the list, according to the rules.
About 90 attorneys are currently on the court’s list.
In 2022, more than 40 private attorneys were paid to represent children in delinquency cases, according to records from the Ohio Public Defender’s Commission.
Private attorneys have to meet certain standards to get paid for representing children. Does Juvenile Court follow the rules?
In order for private attorneys to be paid with public money to represent children, they have to meet certain requirements. That includes both ongoing legal training and case or trial experience. For representing children, the attorneys have to have training specific to juvenile law. For example, to represent a child accused in a felonious assault case, in the two years before taking the case, an attorney must have completed 12 hours of training related to criminal practice and procedure with at least half of that being specific to juvenile delinquency cases. They also must have at least two years of experience representing children accused of crimes, including trying two cases.
For more serious cases, the state added an option for attorneys to waive the requirements if, in the decade before being appointed, they participated in at least two trials before judges in juvenile court, at least one as the lead attorney.
Many courts, including the Cuyahoga court that handles adult felonies, make defense attorneys provide documents showing they have met the training and trial experience requirements.
Cuyahoga County Juvenile Court lists requirements on its application but allows attorneys to self-certify that they are qualified. The application states: “You are not required to submit these sections with your application.” Attorneys can be required to submit transcripts or documentation if the court requests them.
How are attorneys appointed to the most serious cases, where children can be transferred to adult court?
In 2022, the county’s public defender asked the juvenile court to assign his office all cases where children could be transferred to the adult court – unless an appointed private attorney was “qualified and willing to continue as assigned counsel through the duration of the case.”
Transfers to adult court can happen two ways:
- Mandatory bindovers are required by law based on the age and seriousness of a crime
- Discretionary bindovers are based on a judge’s decision about whether a child can be rehabilitated in juvenile court
The office argued it could do a better job representing kids facing transfer – or being bound over – for several reasons. The office has access to a team that includes a public defender, a social worker and an investigator who can gather information and records from schools, family members and the child to paint a better picture of the child’s life and make a stronger argument to the court that they can be rehabilitated. The team also can continue to represent a child who is transferred to adult court.
The court did not agree to the request.
Since the bindover team was created in early 2022, it has handled 102 cases. Of the 65 cases that have been resolved, about 65% have remained in juvenile court, according to the Public Defender’s office. The largest impact has been with the discretionary cases, where 90% have remained in juvenile court.
What are private attorneys paid for representing children in criminal cases?
Private attorneys appointed to represent children in juvenile court are paid $75 per hour. Cuyahoga County sets limits for the total amount the attorney can be paid in different cases. For example, an attorney representing a child charged in a felonious assault case could be reimbursed for up to $6,750. An attorney representing a child in a mandatory bindover case could be reimbursed up to $750. For a discretionary bindover case, the maximum is $1,800. (Clarification: The payment for the bindover case would be in addition to the charge that led to the bindover case.)
The private attorneys appointed by the court first submit bills detailing their time worked and expenses to the court. The court reviews and approves the bills. The bills are then submitted and paid by the county. The county submits the bills to the Ohio Public Defender’s Commission, which reviews them and reimburses the county. The state office gets an average of 13,000 bills from Ohio counties each month for appointed counsel reimbursement.
The state also reimburses the county for the cost of public defenders, based on monthly reports they submit. In the 2023 fiscal year, the Cuyahoga County Public Defender’s office was reimbursed $14 million for its work representing clients accused of crimes. In the 2023 fiscal year, the state reimbursed Cuyahoga County more than $12 million for private attorneys.
