Plain Talk With Rob Port

The criminal justice system is often where public policy debates, from civil rights to addiction, converge. It's also critical for ensuring accountability when the government oversteps. North Dakota's Commission on Legal Counsel for Indigence, led by Director Travis Finck, headed into this year's legislative session facing a "perilous situation," that was dangerously close to a "constitutional failure" due to a lack of resources, leaving many without legal counsel. But lawmakers stepped up. The Finck and his fellow public defenders received a 20% budget increase, amounting to an additional $4.5 million over their 2023 budget. The budget boost is moving the agency "in the right direction," Finck said on this episode of Plain Talk. This funding has tangible impacts on recruitment and retention. Frink notes the agency can now offer higher salaries, implementing a new compensation plan to put them "on par with places like the attorney general’s office." Previously, they weren't even "in the same stadium," Finck