The news comes one year after the Louisiana Legislature passed a bill giving the state more power over public defense.

“Mr. Beaver, should we hire a private attorney or insist that our son, ‘Tom,’ just ask for a public defender for his possession of a controlled substance charge? He was arrested with several ...

“But I don’t know how I’m going to hire anybody up there.” Contractors handle public defender responsibilities in about half of the state’s 14 counties. By some metrics, Vermont’s ...