HUNTER SMITH/THE EXPRESS The Centre County Courthouse in Bellefonte is pictured.

BELLEFONTE — Attorneys from two Centre County law firms warned county commissioners this week that a growing shortage of lawyers willing to take court-appointed cases threatens the integrity of the county’s criminal justice system and could jeopardize public safety.

Speaking during public comment at Tuesday’s commissioners’ meeting, the attorneys said a lack of financial and professional incentives has led to a shrinking pool of lawyers, which in other parts of the country has resulted in serious consequences, including the dismissal of criminal cases before adjudication.

Jennifer Bierly, a partner with Leech Tishman, along with Tonia Torquato and Ronald McGlaughlin, both partners at Stover McGlaughlin Attorneys & Counselors at Law, raised the concern to county commissioners after months of discussions between the firms about the growing dilemma.

“This crisis is really affecting small-town America,” said Torquato, a resident of College Township. “There is simply nothing attracting young attorneys to rural areas to practice law.”

The attorneys explained that many recent law graduates, burdened by six-figure student loans, head to big cities seeking better career prospects, leaving rural communities underserved.

“It comes down to a quality of life decision,” said Ronald McGlaughlin, whose firm has law offices in both Bellefonte and State College.

As attorneys like McGlaughlin, who is in the twilight of his law career, retire, fewer and fewer new lawyers are entering rural areas communities to replace them.

“Quite honestly, those of us who have been around for a number of years are drowning right now in our private practices and just trying to keep up with county demand, which we are not meeting either,” said Torquato.

Given the demands of their private practices, many lawyers struggle to make room for court-appointed cases, which typically pay less and are taken on out of a sense of civic duty. As a result, only seven or eight of the approximately 170 to 180 attorneys practicing in Centre County are currently signed up to accept court-appointed contracts.

“We do it because it’s important and because we’re longtime members of this community, but not everyone in our profession sees it that way,” said Bierly. “At the end of the day, they’re making business decisions.”

Their concern centers on whether the county will be able to continue providing adequate representation for indigent defendants, an issue McGlaughlin says is already acute in smaller jurisdictions.

Centre County attorneys, including McGlaughlin himself, routinely travel to nearby Mifflin and Huntingdon counties to handle criminal defense cases because only one or two lawyers in those counties are willing to take them on.

“This is unfortunately a national problem,” said Centre County Commissioner Mark Higgins. “I have read there are counties in North and South Dakota that are down to a single lawyer, and one lawyer cannot cover all of the different types of law that’s out there.”

Just last month, Massachusetts received national attention after dismissing criminal cases due to a pay dispute with public defenders. Bierly warned that a similar situation could become the reality for Centre County if steps are not taken immediately.

“The eventual reality of this is, I’m aware of situations in other parts of the United States where judges are forced to discontinue or dismiss criminal cases before adjudication because they do not have the Ron McGlaughlins coming into the courtroom to represent indigent defendants,” said Bierly, a resident of Halfmoon Township. “As a member of this community, I don’t want that.”

The shortage of legal representation is also adversely affecting Children and Youth Services (CYS) cases, which have statutory deadlines for certain legal proceedings.

“Quite frankly, we don’t adhere to those locally,” McGlaughlin said. “We can’t… it’s not humanly possible.”

In CYS cases, especially where multiple custody claims are involved, up to five of the only seven or eight attorneys handling court-appointed cases can be engaged at once. This creates scheduling conflicts that make meeting the required timelines difficult if not impossible. According to the lawyers, the issue has become so severe that over half of the county judges’ assistants’ time is spent rescheduling these cases.

Bierly emphasized the real-world impact of these delays: “I don’t want a child who has been abused in the home of a parent to be returned to that parent because Tonia Torquato can’t be in a 72-hour CYS dependency hearing.”

“The eventuality of this, from a public safety perspective, is huge and problematic if we don’t start addressing it now,” said Bierly. “We’re on sort of a precipice where we can make a decision, and we can act or we can choose not to act.”

To address the impending crisis, Commissioner Steve Dershem suggested organizing a roundtable with the county, the bar association, local attorneys and other stakeholders to explore potential solutions. Among the ideas discussed were establishing a county legal position and offering financial incentives to attract attorneys. While no decisions were made, all parties agreed to continue the conversation in the near future.

One potential advantage for Centre County is its proximity to Penn State Law. Commissioners noted that the law school could serve as a pipeline for attracting and retaining new attorneys, something many rural counties across Pennsylvania lack.

“We can’t sacrifice a whole segment of our justice system by just ignoring this, so we have to move forward in some way, shape or form,” said Dershem. “We’re going to have to come up with something very innovative to fix this.”

“We would ask for any lawyers who would like to pick up a little extra work at a discounted rate to please contact the Centre County Court Administration’s Office and get yourself on the list,” Higgins said.

Their number is 814-355-6727.