A Public Defender's Office is not a universal remedy

A Public Defender's Office (PD) has been approved by Harris County, Texas' Commissioners Court.  Anyone who thinks this is a magic potion to the problems with the criminal justice system is naive.  These offices are notoriously overworked, underfunded, and some are even threatening to close.  For example, Georgia's Public Defender's Office is saddled with lawsuits and struggling to pay the bills.  This problem is not exclusive to Georgia. The PD's offices in Alameda County, California, Miami-Dade County, Florida, Missoulian County, Montana, and the State of Michigan all complain of taking on too many cases, not having enough resources to properly defend their clients and/or looking at a serious staff reduction.

Is Harris County, Texas ready to tackle this massive assignment with our current state of the economy?  Does the Public really know what they are getting with the Public Defender's Office?  Does "John Q" citizen want to pay a PD's office in Harris County?  These are questions that the Commissioners Court hopes to answer by February of 2010.