Ilana Panich-Linsman

1 month ago | nytimes.com | Jolie McCullough |Ilana Panich-Linsman

But in about 150 rural counties, misdemeanors are tried by county judges who are primarily elected as the area's chief executive, akin to a mayor. Only about 11 percent are lawyers. They come from a variety of backgrounds: sheriff's deputies, grocery store managers, foremen at trucking companies. Most of those counties do not have hired public defenders. Instead, they pay private lawyers small fees - $311 on average in 2023 - to represent misdemeanor defendants.

1 month ago | nytimes.com | Jolie McCullough |Ilana Panich-Linsman

Officials here openly acknowledge that poor defendants accused of minor crimes are rarely provided lawyers. And people regularly spend months behind bars without charges filed against them, much longer than state law allows. Last year alone, at least a dozen people were held too long uncharged after arrests for minor nonviolent crimes, interviews and records reviewed by The New York Times show. Some defendants seem to have been forgotten in jail.