The Office of the Territorial Public Defender is seeking nearly $6 million for fiscal year 2027, citing heavy caseloads, staffing shortages, retention challenges and facilities upgrades at a Friday budget hearing.
Chief Territorial Public Defender Jumo Meade told the Senate Budget, Appropriations and Finance Committee that the office submitted an anticipated FY 2027 budget request of $6,000,950 to cover additional legal and support staff, growing and complex caseloads, digital evidence review, expert witnesses, employee retention and training.
Meade said the Office of the Territorial Public Defender, or OTPD, was established “for the purpose of representing indigent persons who are charged with criminal offenses” and must “counsel and defend such clients at every stage of the proceeding … and at any appeal or other remedies before or after conviction.” The office currently has 37 employees across the St. Croix and St. Thomas–St. John–Water Island judicial districts, with vacancies in both districts.
Administrator Kieran Isidore later told senators the office has five vacancies, including assistant territorial public defender and intervention outreach coordinator positions. Meade said the intervention outreach coordinator jobs have been vacant since he joined the office but are now in the process of being filled as soon as possible.
Meade reported that as of June 30, the OTPD had 974 open cases territory-wide. The St. Croix district had 591 pending cases, including 414 felony cases, 132 firearm cases, 67 misdemeanors, nine juvenile matters and 91 DUI cases. The St. Thomas–St. John–Water Island district had 383 pending cases, including 249 felony cases, 66 firearm cases, 66 misdemeanors, 19 juvenile matters and 25 DUI cases.
Meade said the caseload figures include cases in which clients remain under probation supervision, so matters that have been resolved can continue to appear in the office’s caseload numbers.
He cited a 2023 National Public Defense Workload Study, which he said found that “public defenders nationwide will routinely carry caseloads that exceed reasonable capacity for providing constitutionally effective representation.” Meade said those caseload demands in the Virgin Islands “continue to place considerable strain on existing personnel.”
“Continued investment in attorneys and support staff is essential to ensure effective representation,” he added.
Salary and retention concerns were a major focus of the hearing. Meade said the OTPD has lost about three attorneys since he joined the office in January 2026 after other employers offered them salaries $30,000 to $40,000 higher than the public defender’s office.
Meade said one attorney reported receiving a job offer with a salary about $30,000 higher but chose to remain at the public defender’s office because of a commitment to representing indigent clients, while still requesting a raise given current market conditions.
The office is seeking about $700,000 in additional salary and fringe funding. Chief Financial Officer Ronald Moorehead said the proposal would raise starting attorney salaries to about $110,000, which senators discussed as being on the order of a roughly 10% increase for attorneys.
Sen. Dwayne M. DeGraff argued that post‑audit figures showed enough unspent fiscal 2026 funds to cover the raises and pressed the office to act. “You have the money, your budget, to give the raise, give them the raises,” he said. Moorehead replied that the office would “look into it.”
Sen. Kurt A. Vialet cautioned that raising salaries at the public defender’s office could draw attorneys from other government legal offices and said broader pay parity among legal agencies should be considered.
The committee also questioned OTPD spending and its FY 2026 budget performance. Moorehead reported about $3.9 million in expenditures as of June 30 and said the office expected to spend most of its funds, largely on payroll and fringe.
The office also described technology investments, including a $10,000 annual contract for Reduct software to organize and review electronic discovery and continued use of Defender Data as its primary case management system. Meade said the office has upgraded network infrastructure, firewalls, surveillance and access controls and implemented business continuity and disaster recovery systems.
Facility needs also remain a concern. On St. Croix, the OTPD has completed the first phase of renovations but still needs roof repairs, parking lot paving and accessibility improvements. Sen. Kenneth L. Gittens pressed the office to address the lack of an elevator at the government-owned building and make it compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act.
On St. Thomas, Meade said the office is exploring the purchase of a large property to replace its rented facility, noting that the asking price has come down and the office hopes eventually to lease out a portion of the building.
Meade also discussed community outreach efforts, including a “Know Your Rights” and teen intervention program with the VI Justice Initiative that reached 319 students in the St. Thomas–St. John–Water Island district and received high marks from participants.
Sen. Novelle E. Francis Jr. said he was concerned about some defendants “being in detention now for the last five years” and said the Legislature should “circle back” to that issue in the Committee on Homeland Security, Public Safety and Justice. At the close of the hearing, he told Meade the office performs “a vital and very important service” and said the OTPD’s budget request “seems to be reasonable” and would be considered during the committee’s budget markup.
