Those without economic or political influence, including indigents accused of crimes and those who represent them, will always be convenient targets for those seeking easy political profit. Such is the case with Sen. Preston Smith's column, which unfairly and inaccurately criticizes Georgia's public defender system and its governing board, the Georgia Public Defender Standards Council ("Public defender system out of control," @issue, June 12).

A few facts are in order. Smith writes that "since 2005, state funds to the Council have increased 36 percent." He omits the fact that the Council, first created by 2003 legislation, was not operational until the second half of the 2005 fiscal year. The state appropriation for the Council's first full year of operation, 2006, was $37.4 million. The state appropriation was actually reduced to $35.4 million for 2007, forcing the agency to discharge 41 staff members. The current state appropriation is $40.5 million, hardly justifying the senator's claim of a 36 percent increase.

More cuts have been threatened for the next two fiscal years, forcing the agency to adopt contingency plans to cease some operations and severely undermining the agency's capabilities and employee job security and morale. The agency's budget from both state and local sources must cover well over 100,000 cases, or an average of only a few hundred dollars per case. Of course, some felony cases require much more. And this is excess?

Smith's use of the term "state funds" might cause the reader to infer that state tax dollars are involved. In fact, no state tax dollars are used to fund the public defender system. In 2004 the Legislature created a special new funding source —- fees and fines imposed on criminal sentences and charges on citizens and businesses filing civil cases —- to fund the state portion of the public defender system. The fund has collected millions of dollars more than the Legislature has actually appropriated for use by the public defender system. These millions have been absorbed by the state's general fund for purposes other than paying for indigent defense.

Smith writes further that the Council refuses to justify its spending. Again, this statement is not supported by the facts. The Council's excellent staff has produced budgetary and other information to the Legislature promptly upon each request and the Council has been impeccably transparent with the Legislature in reporting acknowledged problems and honest mistakes in its operations. But the Council's honesty and good faith have been abused by some members of the legislature. For example, when the Council voluntarily self-reported to Smith and other legislative leaders certain errors the Council itself had discovered in its count of cases requiring multiple lawyers because of multiple defendants, Smith publicly pummeled the Council and accused it of knowingly using bad information to justify increased legislative appropriations. So much for collaborative and cooperative legislative oversight.

In the end, Smith's column is self-indicting. He complains of conflict felony cases handled by private attorneys outside the public defender offices averaging "more than $1,000" to defend. Even those with no particular interest in the system can readily understand that for a lawyer to perform even minimal preparation in order to provide meaningful advice before entering a guilty plea, much less trying a case to completion, the cost would easily exceed $1,000. Smith does not reveal that lawyers employed as full-time public defenders in Georgia, who handle the vast majority of felony cases in the state, dispose of their cases for an average of far less than $1,000 per case.

The fact is, the public defender system is more American than Smith and other critics want to admit. Georgians, indeed all Americans, understand and honor the principle of a "fair fight." Many accused defendants are in fact innocent. Others run the risk of receiving disproportionate punishment if they are not properly represented. Countless citizens of our state have served as jurors in criminal and civil cases. These Georgians understand the need for all accused citizens to have a lawyer, even where they cannot afford it. But the hundreds of civic-minded, public-spirited employees of the public defender system are deterred from doing their jobs for the citizens of this state by relentless and unjustified attacks such as Smith's column represents. The constant turmoil and job insecurity assured by such attacks harms, rather than protects and promotes, the public purse and the common good.

The tone and thrust of Smith's column betrays hostility and distrust toward the Standards Council. This is unproductive and unhealthy for our state. A capable and properly funded indigent defense system provides integrity and legitimacy to Georgia's entire criminal justice system, and separates us from totalitarian systems around the world.

It is simply wrong for a legislator to continue to publicly ridicule an entire agency composed of dedicated and hardworking men and women, many of them young people performing a vital public function for far less money than most of them could earn in the private sector. The 11 Council members from all corners of the state serve as volunteers without pay, collectively donating hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of dollars of their time in assuring fair and equal justice for all Georgians.

The system is barely 3 years old and deserves to be treated as a partner rather than an adversary by the rest of state government. The citizens of Georgia deserve no less.

C. Wilson Dubose (left) is chair of the Georgia Public Defender Standards Council. E. Wycliff Orr is a board member.