Press Release: FY27 Changes to Defender Services

Defender Association Announces Initial Changes to Services Following FY27 Budget

PHILADELPHIA — The Defender Association of Philadelphia announced today that it is making a series of operational changes. As a result of the FY27 budget allocation from the City of Philadelphia, the office is working to balance its constitutional obligations with available resources.

The FY27 budget included an additional $2 million for the Defender Association—an important investment that will help the office address attorney retention and staffing courtrooms and court programs. But the funding falls well short of the approximately $5 million increase the office requested to sustain current staffing levels and the expanded services it has provided in recent years.

The city’s public defender is now redirecting resources to ensure it can continue fulfilling its core constitutional responsibility: providing high-quality legal representation to people who cannot afford an attorney.

Effective immediately, the Defender Association will:

• Discontinue participation in the City’s monthly Emergency Bail Hearings.
• Reduce staffing in Courtroom 6G from two attorneys to one.
• Accept post-preliminary hearing appointments only after a court determines a person is financially eligible for appointed counsel.
• Decline appointments in parole violation matters when the Defender Association was not the original trial counsel.

“These are not decisions we wanted to make,” said Chief Defender Keisha Hudson. “We appreciate the City’s investment but these additional dollars are largely committed to ensuring we can meet an ever expanding caseload, and our obligations to provide effective representation. We still have difficult choices to make about the additional programs and services we’ve built over the years to strengthen our justice system.”

“Every service we’re scaling back is one we believe in,” Hudson said. “These are successful programs, but when resources are limited, we have to prioritize the services we’re required to provide by the Constitution.”

The Defender Association noted that there may be more changes. The office will continue evaluating staffing needs and available resources throughout the summer and expects to know by September whether additional service reductions will be necessary.

“Right now, we’re working to stabilize our workforce. We’ll evaluate the impact of these initial changes, and continue working with our City and justice system partners to find opportunities to preserve as many of these important services as possible,” Hudson said.

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