HAMILTON — Butler County commissioners this morning, Aug. 9, approved an overhaul of how the county’s common pleas court appoints defense attorneys for indigent defendants.

Court officials said the change could save the county $500,000 per year.

Under the plan, a non-profit will be created that will appoint two or three attorneys to each of the common pleas court’s seven judges. For up to $46,000 per year, they will be dedicated to handling all the cases before each judge.

The attorneys will be under contract, not county employees, so they can continue to pick up additional private practice work.

Under the current system, judges approve a pool of several dozen attorneys and go through the list when new cases arise. Those attorneys then bill the county for the hours they work, meaning the county has no control over the total cost.

The change was proposed by Common Pleas Court Administrative Judge Michael Sage with the blessing of the county public defender commission.

Sage said the new system would cost the county about $700,000 per year, while indigent defense this year is on pace to cost the county $1.2 million.

“This is an area where we know we can save significant money,” Sage said, while providing “better representation.”

“Hopefully we’ll get the best of the attorneys in the system, so we’ll increase the representation,” Sage said.

“We’re on board with Judge Sage’s goals,” said Chris Pagan, president of the Butler County Public Defender Commission.

Sage said it would also eliminate attorneys fraudulently claiming hours they never worked, including one instance where a lawyer billed the county for a 26-hour day.

Sage had proposed a similar plan in the past, but it came under fire from the bar association and others because it called for the judges to appoint their defense attorneys. Under this plan, that would be handled by a stand-alone non-profit contracted by the county.

“The devil is in the details,” Pagan said, warning that there may be unforeseen hurdles with such a large change. But he and Sage both said the plan looks like a win-win for the county, for attorneys and for defendants.

“This is exactly what we’ve been looking for,” Commissioner Donald Dixon said, referencing the county’s ailing budget.

It’s unclear how long it will take to get the new system running, but Sage said he’s like to get it going “as quickly as we can.”

Contact this reporter at (513) 820-2175 or jsweigart@coxohio.com.