Nye County Commissioner Joni Eastley and 5th District Judge Robert Lane have been named to a rural subcommittee studying the impact of a Nevada Supreme Court order mandating changes to the indigent defense system.

Eastley was among a number of county officials who testified at a hearing about the order in Carson City last month. She, along with Elko County Commissioner John Ellison, were rural county officials appointed by the Nevada Association of Counties.

Sixth District Judge Robert Wagner, based in Humboldt, Lander and Pershing counties, testified the rules were unfair and made without enough input from rural counties.

The Supreme Court order followed recommendations of an Indigent Defense Commission, following a series of newspaper articles about flaws in the Clark County indigent defense system.

In January, the Supreme Court gave indigent-defense lawyers until April 1 to meet a strict set of performance standards in every criminal case. The requirement to meet those performance standards has since been delayed until July 15.

The order also gave counties a May 1 deadline to create plans to remove judges from the selection of public defenders. Clark and Washoe counties were given until July 15 to complete studies on public defender caseloads, a deadline that has now been extended to Jan. 1.

Eastley, in her March 18 remarks before the Supreme Court hearing, said in her seven years on the Nye County Commission she's become familiar with the "one-size-fits-all solution."

Instead of applying the same solution to all counties, Eastley said the proposed changes should be applied where they belong, in Clark and Washoe counties.

Eastley called it an unfunded mandate.

"For Nye County, this would cause an undetermined but substantial increase in costs," Eastley said.

During the past three years Eastley said Nye County spent $1.5 million defending indigent people in court.

"This represents a tremendous amount of money to Nye, particularly as we experience explosive growth in the southern part of the county, in Pahrump," she said.

A committee member remarked that Nye County wasn't being served by the state public defender's office, which could defray part of the cost.

"The money we spend on indigent defense comes right out of our operating budget," Eastley said.

Jason Earnest, whose firm handles public defender cases for Nye County, said the results of a 2001 study showed his office went to trial on 12 percent of their indigent defense case load. Earnest's firm is paid $490,000 for their annual public defender contract.

Bill Gang, an administrative clerk with the Nevada Supreme Court, said in Clark County less than 2 percent of criminal cases filed go to trial.

Murders and sexual assault defendants often go to trial, since they face mandatory life terms; the remainder tend to agree to plea bargains, he said.

Fifth District Judge John Davis, said he recommends exempting counties below a certain population level from the requirements counties that don't have problems with the current system, like Nye County.

"Why shake the boat when things don't need to be fixed? They seemed to think we had problems with appointments (of attorneys). The problem is we have such a limited number of attorneys to take appointments," Davis said.

Davis said he selects attorneys on a rotation basis if the public defender's office has a conflict of interest. Sometimes Davis said he will appoint a certain attorney to represent a client knowing that attorney may have a special expertise. A half-dozen conflict attorneys are available, he said.

"It creates another layer of bureaucracy," Davis said. "I think the lawyers that we have for the most part do a very good job."

When it comes to another recommendation to change the way fees are set for expert witnesses, Davis said trial judges would have the best idea what fees are reasonable based on what they observe in court.

Davis said in his 18 years on the bench he's only had two Supreme Court judges ever pay him a visit. One was running for election.

"I don't think they have a good understanding," Davis said. "A lot of the Supreme court judges come out of the city."

A long list of speakers blasted the Supreme Court order during the hearing.

Judge Wagner said he was shocked to read the order when it came out Jan. 4. He cited language in the order suggesting judges appointing public defenders creates an appearance of impropriety.

"When I read that I was rather shocked and dismayed. You would think we were a bunch of crooks," Wagner said. "It reminds me of 'The Music Man,' where someone comes from out of town and indicates there's a crisis in the community.

"District judges do an admirable job of seeing that people who have criminal charges pending against them who are indigent have appropriate representation."

He said the state public defender's office has been a disaster, adding it went for more than a year without a secretary.

Seventh District Court Judge Dan Papez, based in Ely and Eureka counties, said he was a member of the Indigent Defense Committee rural subcommittee before. It was unfortunate some of that information wasn't brought forward for the latest order, he said. Papez and Wagner were both appointed to the latest subcommittee.

Papez said the practicing attorneys in Ely typically arrive from Elko. He said trial judges are in the best position to approve fees for indigent counsel, knowing how far the attorneys have to travel.

"There's nothing underhanded going on. It's what we need to do," Papez said. "Most of the counties have pulled out of the state public defender's office over concerns about representation."

Washoe County District Attorney Richard Gammick said his office has an early case resolution system through which incoming cases are screened by a deputy district attorney to see which cases are appropriate.

That sets in motion the waiving of preliminary hearings and an immediate setting for a plea in court. Other counties have adopted this system, Gammick said.

Pershing County District Attorney Jim Shirley, appointed as a member of the latest subcommittee, said, "No particular set of rules for defense counsel can take into account the variety of circumstances."

Shirley added the order micromanaging the county's selection of indigent defense counsel violates the Sixth Amendment to the Constitution.

Washoe County Manager Katy Singlaub said assigning fewer cases to a public defender would have "a cascading effect" on the criminal defense system in her county. Singlaub said the changes would cost Washoe County up to $10 million.

Mineral County District Attorney Sherry Evans said public defenders in rural counties are concerned about the quality of life in rural Nevada.