Dawsonville – The state public defender council's board voted Friday to delay by a month the closing of a metro defender office amid concerns its elimination will compromise legal representation of the poor and disrupt Atlanta's busiest courthouse.

By a 9-1 vote, the board voted to shut down the 21-employee Metro Conflict Defender Office on July 31, but hire back seven of the lawyers who work there. The office won't be closed until the lawyers are hired and a plan is in place to make sure the transition goes as smoothly as possible. The seven lawyers will work in Fulton County offices.

Last month, Mack Crawford, director of the Georgia Public Defender Standards Council, ignited a firestorm of controversy when he announced the conflict office, which has 17 lawyers, would be closed on June 30. The board held its meeting Friday to either agree to that plan or figure out a compromise.

The metro conflict office costs $1.7 million a year to run and represents people in Fulton and DeKalb counties who cannot afford an attorney. The office's lawyers represent co-defendants when conflict-of-interest rules allow a public defender to represent only one person.

Crawford said he had to close the office because of budgetary constraints that have hounded the council since it opened its doors four years ago. The council had asked the Legislature for $8.3 million for "conflict" cases, as well as for fees for expert witness, for the next fiscal year that begins July 1. But lawmakers approved $5.4 million.

During Friday's meeting, held at the Lodge at Amicalola Falls State Park, the board agreed to move toward adopting a compromise that keeps some salaried defenders on payroll and saves the council $600,000.

Under the plan, six of the lawyers from the metro office will stay on and handle "complex" cases – the most serious felony offenses — in a dozen Fulton County courtrooms. An additional lawyer will handle juvenile cases.

Although the plan recommended that four private attorneys handle the less serious, non-complex cases on a contract basis, the board voted to try to find a way to avoid using lawyers who don't work for the defender council.

The proposal was outlined to the council by Larry Schneider, the DeKalb Public Defender who is leaving that job at the end of the month to oversee conflict cases for the state defender council. DeKalb would receive $300,000 from the council to deal with its conflict case load, he said.

Crawford told the council that he was not trying to "pick on" Fulton and DeKalb counties by closing the metro office. But with almost a third of the entire conflict and expert witness budget going to those two counties, there will not be enough for the programs across the state. "I'm trying to find a balance," he said.

Before the vote, Atlanta lawyer Stephen Bright the metro conflict office "the most cost-effective, efficient and most ethically appropriate operation Fulton County could have."

Bright is one of a number of lawyers representing five criminal defendants in Fulton County and four lawyers from the metro office who have sued the council, seeking a court order barring the metro office's closure.

Lynne Borsuk, president of the Georgia Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, also urged the council to keep the metro office open.

"What we're seeing is legislative underfunding," she said. "It's like death by a thousand cuts. We gave reached a juncture where the funding is simply not adequate to carry out the mission."

Gainesville lawyer Wyc Orr, a board member, agreed. He asked the board to approve a motion that halts the closing of the metro office and directs council staff to come up with other proposals.

"I think it's totally unfair," Orr said of closing the office. "It undermines the confidence and job security of every employee we have statewide. It interferes with our ability to accomplish our mission long term."

But Orr's motion failed by a vote of 6 to 4.