382 | What Stopped North Dakota Public Defenders from Refusing New Cases? w/Travis Fink

Today, Hunter was joined once again by the Executive Director of North Dakota's Commission of Legal Counsel for the Indigent, Travis Fink. Last time, Travis joined the show to detail a bleak outlook for public defense in the state. Not enough attorneys in both the contract and full-time systems, inadequate pay, and crushing workloads left Travis with little choice. He drafted up a letter preparing to tell the courts the public defender would be taking no new cases, but before he could send it out, the legislature threw the system a lifeline.   Guest: Travis Fink, Executive Director, North Dakota Commission of Legal Counsel for the Indigent   Resources: Travis Testimony at the Legislature https://video.ndlegis.gov/en/PowerBrowser/PowerBrowserV2/20250130/-1/32604 Contact the North Dakota Public Defender https://www.indigents.nd.gov/ North Dakota Public Defender News https://northdakotamonitor.com/2025/07/07/north-dakota-public-defenders-see-budget-increase-with-new-biennium/ https://bismarcktribune.com/news/state-regional/crime-courts/public-defenders-underpaid-overworked-north-dakota-report-says/article_76910028-f819-11ee-a575-8f6da532994a.html     Contact Hunter Parnell:                                 [email protected]  Instagram @PublicDefenselessPodcast Twitter                                                                 @PDefenselessPod www.publicdefenseless.com  Subscribe to the Patreon www.patreon.com/PublicDefenselessPodcast  Donate on PayPal https://www.paypal.com/donate/?hosted_button_id=5KW7WMJWEXTAJ Donate on Stripe https://donate.stripe.com/7sI01tb2v3dwaM8cMN Trying to find a specific part of an episode? Use this link to search transcripts of every episode of the show! https://app.reduct.video/o/eca54fbf9f/p/d543070e6a/share/c34e85194394723d4131/home