Indigent Defender offices across the state are facing a budget crisis. Many of the offices will run out of money by June 30th. Several offices have had to lay off attorneys because of the budget problems. The Louisiana Legislative Auditor's Office reports that 17 public defenders' offices out of 40 spent more money than they brought in for the budget year that ended June 30, 2013.

Locally, a forum is scheduled for Thursday to talk about the problem and possible solutions.  The forum is open to the public and will take place at 7 PM at the LSU-Shreveport, science lecture auditorium.

Attorney Tom Arceneaux is part of the forum and we talked with him about the problem.

 

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