NATCHEZ, Miss. — Adams County Public Defender Jeffrey Harness said his newly created office of criminal-defense attorneys is precariously “in limbo” as supervisors await guidance on whether it’s legal for Circuit Judge Lillie Blackmon Sanders’ daughter and sister to be hired.
Harness was appointed by Sanders to be her court’s chief public defender, and he selected the judge’s relatives — Aisha Sanders and Lydia Blackmon – to join his staff along with two other attorneys.
Previous legal opinions from the state Attorney General’s Office and Ethics Commission indicate the appointment of the judge’s daughter and sister does not violate state nepotism laws. However, supervisors want specifically “something in writing . . . to make sure everything is legal,” said county board President Ricky Gray.
However, as they await more legal guidance from the state agencies, Harness said he faces “a massive caseload” of 50 to 100 criminal defendants who can’t afford legal counsel and must have someone representing them. This inaction is delaying criminal cases and “putting the defendants’ constitutional rights in jeopardy,” he told county supervisors Monday.
Gray said other attorneys could be assigned to represent the defendants in the meantime.
Harness did say in October that Blackmon and Sanders — to avoid any potential conflicts of interest — would not be representing clients in cases being heard by Judge Sanders. Circuit Court Judge Debra Blackwell also hears criminal cases in Adams County.
At Sanders’ request, the Adams County Board of Supervisors in September agreed to create the public defenders office to replace the previous practice of retaining nine private attorneys the court randomly called on to represent criminal defendants who can’t afford their own lawyers.
The new office of five attorneys would be more focused on criminal-defense practice to ensure accused criminals’ rights to effective legal representation are secured.
In addition to Sanders and Blackmon, Harness selected Natchez attorneys Tim Blalock and Zach Jex to staff the public defenders office, for which the Board of Supervisors allocated about $300,000 for the current budget year.
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