Governor signs Sen. Carney bill to fund Public Defense Services, protect constitutional rights

AUGUSTA – Today, Gov. Janet Mills signed LD 2059, a bill from Sen. Anne Carney, D-Cape Elizabeth, to provide emergency funding to the Maine Commission on Public Defense Services (PDS), whose impending budget shortfall puts at risk Maine’s capacity to meet its constitutional obligation to provide attorneys to criminal defendants who cannot afford their own. As emergency legislation, the law took effect immediately upon the Governor’s signature.

“I am grateful for the unanimous support of my colleagues in the Legislature and the Governor for swift action to prevent what could have been a catastrophic lapse in funding for our public defense system,” said Sen. Carney. “This emergency investment will protect all defendants’ constitutional right to legal representation – because access to justice should not be contingent on one’s ability to pay.”

Under the Sixth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, the State is obligated to provide attorneys to criminal defendants who cannot afford their own, following financial screening and eligibility determination by a judge. Maine has made substantial progress towards a robust public defense system in recent years, working to establish public defender offices across the state and improve reimbursement rates for assigned counsel. In 2025 alone, PDS reduced the number of unrepresented defendants awaiting assignment of counsel by more than 75%. Still, the need for indigent legal services looms large, and PDS continues to rely heavily on contracted private defense lawyers to manage the caseload.

Facing a $13 million budget shortfall, PDS was set to exhaust available appropriations required to pay appointed counsel in the last quarter of this fiscal year by next week. Had this funding lapsed, assigned counsel would have experienced delays in payment for work already done. These delays may have led to a decreasing number of attorneys and a soaring number of unrepresented individuals.

LD 2059 provides PDS the funding it needs to retain attorneys through the fourth quarter of this fiscal year. Its emergency passage into law protects Maine’s capacity to uphold its Sixth Amendment obligation and our progress towards a more stable, reliable and cost-effective justice system.

Sen. Carney is serving her third term in the Maine Senate, representing South Portland, Cape Elizabeth and part of Scarborough. She serves as Senate Chair of the Judiciary Committee and the Joint Rules Committee and as a member of the Inland Fisheries and Wildlife Committee.

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