Alameda public defender weighs refusing new cases amid funding crisis

Alameda County Public Defender Brendon Woods' office is discussing whether to copy the San Francisco Public Defender's office and refuse to take on new indigent clients, he said Tuesday.

Inadequate funding and rising caseloads may force his office to reject new clients "imminently," Woods said in an interview.

Woods said the Alameda County Board of Supervisors last week was "receptive" and would "look for solutions to address our staffing problem," after his budget presentation.

He also has called for public defenders across the country to protest by wearing black on Thursday over the funding problems and in support of San Francisco Public Defender Manohar Raju, who was sanctioned $26,000 in March after being found in contempt of court for refusing a judicial order to accept new indigent clients.

Raju said unsustainable workloads and lack of adequate staff left his office unable to provide proper legal counsel, which the defendants are entitled to. The sanctions have been stayed by the Court of Appeal while Raju's team contests the rulings handed down by San Francisco Superior Court Judge Harry Dorfman.

"When a judge that used to be a former prosecutor is able to establish what is a reasonable workload for public defenders, then the right to counsel is effectively dead and that's why we've chosen to wear black on Thursday," Woods commented. He said public defenders in New York, Philadelphia and Washington, D.C., agreed to join the protest.

Woods said the problems his office faces are due to inadequate funding, overcharging misdemeanors by the county's District Attorney's Office and the impact of Proposition 36.

Alameda County District Attorney Ursula Jones Dickson, a former Superior Court judge, was sworn in last year to replace Pamela Price, who was recalled by voters in the second year of her term, after a campaign that focused on rising crime and alleged lenient charging policies.

Responding to Woods' argument that public defenders historically have less funds than prosecutors, Dickson said in an email, "The Alameda County District Attorney's Office has specific constitutional and legal mandates that are fundamentally different from those of the Public Defender, and our staffing and funding reflect this.

"Recently, the Alameda County District Attorney's Office has also been addressing a backlog of cases that accumulated from 2022 through 2024. As the backlog is reduced, more cases are being reviewed and filed.

"It is also important to recognize that Public Defenders do not handle all criminal defense work. Not everyone qualifies for the Public Defender's services, and a substantial number of cases are handled by court-appointed panel attorneys or privately retained counsel."

According to a media release from Woods' office, since 2023, felony and misdemeanor filings have steadily increased. There were 4,708 new felony filings in 2025 versus 3,266 in 2023, a 44% increase, and 8,267 new misdemeanor filings in 2025 versus 6,850 in 2023, a 20% increase, the release said.

Woods said he did not know all the reasons for the filings increase, but one factor was Proposition 36. Passed by more than 68% of the state's voters in 2024, the law made it easier to charge certain theft and drug crimes as felonies and called for more drug treatment referrals.

District attorneys, defenders and judges have complained that the Legislature did not adequately fund the new law, the Homelessness, Drug Addiction, and Theft Reduction Act, which Gov. Gavin Newsom opposed.

"When it comes to Prop. 36," Woods said. "Those cases that were previously misdemeanors, now they're all felonies."

Proposition 36 led to 34,612 new felony case filings last year statewide, according to a new report from the Judicial Council.

Woods said the district attorney's 2025-26 budget is $112,034,490, about 55% higher than his office's $72,191,575.

There are 368 funded district attorney positions compared to 204 for public defender staff, a media release from Woods' office said. He said he has asked the county supervisors for more lawyers, investigators and support staff to handle increased caseloads.

According to the 2023 National Public Defense Workload Study by the American Bar Association, the Alameda County Public Defender's Office would need 104 additional attorneys to align with the study's staffing benchmarks to provide effective representation.