Robert Hirsh retired from the Pima County Public Defender's Office on Friday, March 2.
He started his new job as director of Pima County's Office of Court Appointed Counsel, Monday, March 5.
When Hirsh, 76, announced he was going to retire he said he wasn't ready for a rest home yet and he hoped to find a way to keep contributing to the criminal justice system.
What he didn't say was he'd already approached Pima County Administrator Chuck Huckelberry with an idea.
Hirsh offered to fill the shoes of retired deputy county administrator Lindy Funkhouser at the Office of Court Appointed Council working part-time and at a reduced hourly rate. Instead of 40-plus hours a week at $75 an hour, he'd work 19 hours at week at $70 an hour.
Huckelberry agreed. Hirsh will run the office through at least next March.
When the county's legal and public defenders offices have a conflict of interest, criminal defendants are assigned attorneys who have a contract with the county through the Office of Court Appointed Counsel. Contract attorneys must go through the office to obtain funds to hire expert witnesses such as mental-health professionals, accident reconstructionists or forensic specialists.
Besides distribution of those funds, Funkhouser was responsible for the county's photo radar program and mental-health programs at the jail, Huckelberry said.
Those programs have now been transferred to other county departments, leaving Huckelberry to wonder if he needed to replace Funkhouser at all or hire someone part-time to oversee the remaining functions of the office.
"Bob is a well-respected member of the criminal defense bar" Huckelberry said. He knows how to represent indigent defendants effectively and efficiently, and can do a cost-benefit analysis on expert witnesses, he said.
Hirsh acknowledged that is a big part of his job, but he also has other plans for the office.
"I hope I can justify what I make by improving the quality of the lawyering in the office and improving the system without spending any more money and hopefully saving some money," Hirsh said.
For starters, he wants to do a better job of evaluating lawyers who want a county contract, and monitoring them after they are assigned cases, he said.
"I was very concerned about two death penalty cases that were tried last year," Hirsh said. "The death penalty was handed down to the clients and I think the public defender's office could've done a better job on those cases."
Defense attorney Rick Lougee supports Hirsh's idea, particularly when it comes to death penalty cases. "I think the clients are entitled to it and the taxpayers are entitled to it," Lougee said. "When these cases come back on appeal it costs lots of money."
Defense attorney Sean Bruner was dubious the changes would make any difference, however, saying until the county starts paying contract attorneys more, the better ones will be reluctant to pursue county contracts.
On StarNet: Read Kim Smith's blog, At the Courthouse, for news out of Pima County's courts at azstarnet.com/courthouse
Contact reporter Kim Smith at 573-4241 or kimsmith@azstarnet.com
