The Georgia Senate Appropriations Committee cut the state pub­lic defend­er bud­get to $513,000, less than 15% of what Gov. Sonny Perdue had rec­om­mend­ed to cov­er costs until the end of June. The gov­er­nor had orig­i­nal­ly sought $3.6 mil­lion for the Public Defender Standards Council, which is now con­cerned that with­out nec­es­sary funds, the Georgia court sys­tem will come to a stand­still, includ­ing their defense in cap­i­tal cas­es.

House Majority Leader Jerry Keen said that addi­tion­al fund­ing would have allowed the cap­i­tal cas­es to move for­ward. The Senate’s bud­get cut, he said, is ​“a huge blow to the abil­i­ty of pros­e­cu­tors to begin pros­e­cut­ing these cap­i­tal cas­es.” None of the new mon­ey is to go to the case of Brian Nichols, who is accused of an infa­mous cour­t­house shoot­ing. Because pros­e­cu­tors are pur­su­ing the death penal­ty in that case, it has become very expen­sive for both sides.

(“Georgia Senate slash­es mon­ey for pub­lic defend­ers,” by Shannon McCaffrey, Macon Telegraph, February 20, 2008). See Costs and Representation.

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