Despite $13M stopgap, Maine’s public defense agency expects another funding shortfall

By: Eesha Pendharkar

Outlets: Maine Morning Star

Published: July 28, 2026

Words: 695

Last Updated: 6 days ago

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Maine’s indigent defense agency is already projecting a $4 million shortfall for the upcoming year, three months after Maine lawmakers allocated $13 million in one-time emergency funding to help the agency pay contracted private attorneys.

The projected shortfall is due to years of chronic underfunding built into the Maine Commission on Public Defense Services budget, and its reliance on contracted attorneys, who take on the bulk of indigent defense cases and bill …

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