Public Defender tells supervisors office is understaffed compared with prosecutors and asks for equity

The San Francisco Public Defender told the Budget and Appropriations Committee that the office represents over 20,000 clients a year — a population heavily weighted toward Black, indigenous and people of color — and that its budget remains far smaller than other players in the criminal‑legal system.

The public defender described a “three‑corner” approach—defense, social work/counseling and systemic advocacy—that underpins its work. The office highlighted recent litigation wins (including a Supreme Court decision ending unaffordable cash bail for certain defendants and custody‑related litigation during COVID), programmatic expansions (a Freedom Project/post‑conviction unit and an expanded clean‑slate effort) and services for immigrants and youth.

Director representatives told supervisors the mayor’s proposed increase to the SFPD budget alone exceeded the public defender’s entire annual operating budget and asked the board to consider equity for defender funding, additional investigators and social‑work staff, and smoother HR/DHR processes to reduce hiring delays and vacancy drag.

Supervisors praised specific client‑impact examples provided by the public defender and acknowledged the broader budget tradeoffs the committee faces as it considers proposals across law‑enforcement and defense, courts and oversight agencies. The public defender said state and grant funds support some expansions but that city baseline funding remained limited.