“Give me six hours to chop down a tree and I’ll spend the first four sharpening my axe.” (quote attributed to Abraham Lincoln.)

I appreciate The Herald Bulletin’s recent editorial emphasizing the importance of public defender services in the Rex David Delph case. (“Our View” — July 13, 2008.) However, some additional research before writing could have avoided factual errors and misunderstanding in that piece.

As a public defender and an administrator, I am an employee of the Public Defender Board, not a board member nor the head of the board as your editorial stated. The Public Defender Board consists of three civic-minded attorney volunteers who donate their time to govern our public defender system.

The editorial portrayed the Delph case as an example of a “financial squabble,” which is far from the truth. The Court with jurisdiction over this case has worked with the County Council to seek additional money for Delph’s defense when needed. Over $150,000 has been spent since the case began. The Court also granted a defense request to appoint a second defense attorney, although only one is required under state standards. When Delph’s lead counsel chose to resign his position as a Madison County public defender to work elsewhere, the Board granted his request to pay him an hourly rate on this case to ensure continuity. The Court, Council and Board have worked together within their own restraints to meet the defense needs.

Delph’s attorney first provided a comprehensive cost estimate to the Board on June 23. The Board voted that date not to continue paying additional attorney fees based on simple math: Its budget couldn’t cover the total amount requested. The public would be outraged if the Board blew its budget on one case and left other people charged with murder and serious crimes without any defense. Like any department of county government, the Board has no power to write checks with money it doesn’t have.

The Board did not say Delph’s attorneys couldn’t have the resources they need, it just said that the Board doesn’t have them to give. There are other sources of payment available. The Council can appropriate more money in the Court’s budget for defense services, which is where the previous costs in this case have been paid. If there still isn’t enough money budgeted for reasonable and necessary costs, the Court can issue an order mandating them paid by the County. We haven’t yet reached such a dire point.

Madison County is blessed with an excellent public defender system staffed with some of the most experienced and committed attorneys in the state. Over the years, individual public defenders in Madison County have been honored with the Indiana Public Defender Council’s Gideon and Gault awards for excellence in their representation of indigent clients. Despite the realities of the County’s budgetary restraints, our public defender program remains committed to maintaining that high degree of professionalism for each client.

David A. Happe, attorney at law, is chief administrative public defender, Anderson.