Funds totaling $38,046 from the public defender budget will be transferred to the Box Butte County District Court budget to cover court costs through the remainder of the fiscal year for court appointed counsel.
For more than a year, commissioners have struggled to find a permanent replacement to fill the public defender position after former Public Defender Jon Worthman was placed on leave after being arrested for possession of cocaine. After hiring two replacements, which have resigned, the commissioners have settled on using a firm to fill the role as needed.
Box Butte County District Court Judge Travis O’Gorman and Box Butte County District Court Clerk Kevin Horn had voiced concerns to County Attorney Terry Curtiss about court funds running out prior the end of the fiscal year. One of the reasons more funds were requested was to be prepared for a murder trial that would require a jury pool set to take place in May, among other trials.
“Judge O’Gorman had contacted me indicating he had some concerns about the fact he’s running to the bottom of budget with three months left,” Curtiss said. “The primary reason was the amount of appointed counsel fees that have gone to the replacement of our public defender. He also has a couple of jury trials scheduled, one of them being a murder trial, which will require a large jury pool to be able to pick a jury.”
O’Gorman and Horn requested that $30,000 be transferred from the public defender fund to the district court fund to cover costs to the end of the year. Curtiss said the commissioners could do more than one transfer.
Commissioner Mike McGinnis responded that he would prefer to do a one-time transfer. Commissioners Mike McGinnis and Susan Lore suggested clearing the account by transferring the full amount, $38,046.
Lore said, “I’d like to have a trail if we do $30,000. I’d just as soon do $38,000 because that’s the actual line item amount.”
The commissioners voted unanimously to transfer the funds.