Kotek fires head of troubled Oregon public defense agency • Oregon Capital Chronicle:
Gov. Tina Kotek fired Jessica Kampfe, the head of the Oregon Public Defense Commission, on Thursday morning. The agency oversees indigent defense for thousands of people charged with crimes who cannot afford a lawyer.
“It is unacceptable that more than 4,000 defendants in Oregon do not have attorneys assigned,” Kotek said in a statement. “The public defense crisis poses an urgent threat to public safety and delays justice for victims.”
Both the U.S. and Oregon constitutions require the state to pay for attorneys for those who financially qualify. For years, Oregon has struggled to meet those legal obligations, leaving both defendants and victims of crime in limbo.
Oregon’s public defense challenges predate Kampfe, who took over the role in 2022. But under her tenure, the number of criminal defendants without attorneys grew — and with it, frustration from prosecutors, judges and even other public defenders.
Speaking as someone who has worked directly with Jessica Kampfe, I can tell you that I’m skeptical that the problems with Oregon’s public defense system are even remotely her fault. She is highly competent. Here, I think she’s just the political fall guy for a governor (and legislature) that refuse to fix the problem.