Out of funds, Maine’s public defense agency can no longer pay contracted lawyers

By: Eesha Pendharkar

Outlets: Maine Morning Star

Published: March 11, 2026

Words: 458

Last Updated: 4 months, 3 weeks ago

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The state’s public defense agency has run out of money to pay the private defense lawyers it contracts with, who handle the vast majority of constitutionally-mandated indigent legal services in Maine.

Hundreds of private attorneys who work for the Maine Commission on Public Defense Services will now go unpaid for legal work that they have already done, and will not be paid again until the start of the next fiscal …

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