I read in the Colorado Sun last spring that a national study by the American Bar Association found that Colorado needs three times more public defenders to adequately fulfill its constitutional obligation of providing legal counsel to those who cannot afford an attorney.

Imagine operating a ski resort or restaurant while short two-thirds of the necessary employees.

This public defender shortage is nationwide with tough-on-crime legislators underfunding public defender offices, thus hindering justice and the smooth operation of the courts. Another factor in the shortage is due to defense attorneys being burdened in recent years by the need to investigate much more evidence than a decade ago. Colorado requires body cams for law enforcement officers, and an attorney may need to examine extensive footage from several cameras. Then there are emails, texts, cell phone calls, and social media posts to be reviewed.

Curious about how this affects our community, I learned the Office of the Colorado State Public Defender has a district office in Dillon — which serves Summit, Eagle, Lake, and Clear Creek counties — and is staffed by seven attorneys. Those people you read about in the Summit Daily sheriff’s report will need an attorney if charged with a felony or misdemeanor, and about 80% have low enough income to qualify for a court-appointed defender (and roughly the same percentage qualify in Colorado and most other states).

The public may not have much sympathy for those in trouble with the law, but the right to an attorney was deemed by our nation’s founders as an essential right to protect citizens against an oppressive government. The authors of the Bill of Rights to the Constitution were very concerned about the government abusing its power to arrest and jail citizens, so five of the amendments put restrictions on law enforcement, court procedures and punishment.

Thea Reiff, the current Office Head in Dillon, has been a public defender for 22 years. She loves working with her clients and defending the civil rights of some of the most vulnerable people in our community. Of course an effective defense can make a huge difference to those improperly charged. But a defense attorney plays an important role in negotiating for a client, perhaps allowing them to plead to a lesser charge and be able to continue working to support themselves and their family. The Dillon office entered their appearance as counsel on a total of 2,990 cases in the 5th judicial district for 2023 and 2024 combined.

Breckenridge attorney Dana Christiansen was the office head of the Dillon office from 1996 to 2014. He said the office was greatly understaffed then, sometimes having only three attorneys to handle cases in the entire four county district. He pointed out how public defenders in mountain districts have an additional burden on their time compared to those in Denver as they must often drive substantial distances on snowy roads to meet with clients or appear in court.

Attorney Christiansen emphasized that many people naively believe the legal system is looking out for their constitutional rights, but prosecutors are just arguing a case against someone accused of a crime. It is only the defendant’s attorney who challenges law enforcement and prosecutors, pointing out whether an illegal search was done, forensic evidence is flawed, a witness is unreliable, or that the prosecutor is withholding evidence favorable to the defendant.

Public defenders play an important role in forcing police and prosecutors to follow the laws and the Constitution. We all benefit from this check on law enforcement and the justice system, improving it and keeping it honest for everyone.

Another reason to see that everyone has adequate counsel is that police and prosecutors sometimes make serious mistakes. The National Registry of Exonerations recorded 153 exonerations in the U.S. in 2023, with these innocent people having been imprisoned an average of 14.6 years. This registry has recorded 3,478 exonerations from 1989 through 2023.

We are all fortunate that the authors of our Constitution were way ahead of their time in recognizing the necessity of curbing government power so our republic could succeed.

The government cannot use the legal system to take away our life, liberty or property unless it can prove beyond a reasonable doubt that we are guilty of a crime. There are daily news stories of authoritarian governments arbitrarily arresting and jailing their citizens and giving them no legal recourse. In America, if we follow the Constitution, we have a legal system that is designed to treat all citizens as equal before the law, including guaranteeing the right to have legal counsel.

Paul Olson’s column “A Friendly Conservative” publishes biweekly on Tuesdays in the Summit Daily News. Olson has lived in Breckenridge since 1995. Semiretired, he works at REI in Dillon and enjoys snowboarding, Nordic skiing and hiking. Contact him at pobreck@gmail.com.