It was a strange situation for William Ward, Hennepin County's chief public defender.

Ward says he's at least a dozen lawyers short of the level that his nonstop, high-pressure office should be at. Yet there he was last week before the Hennepin County Board, talking about a retirement incentive program that would put the office even further behind.

"I don't really want to lose the people. This is a brain drain for me," he said in an interview later.

Hennepin County is asking departments to reduce their 2011 budgets by 5 percent. So the public defender's office plans to offer $400 tax-free for every year of service to veteran county employees who retire or resign this fall. The payments can be used to cover out-of-pocket medical expenses.

County commissioners sitting in committee approved the program last week and are expected to ratify the vote at Tuesday's board meeting.

The problem is that if the program succeeds in thinning out the ranks, it will leave the office with even fewer attorneys at a time when the caseloads trend is rising.

That's because only the state now hires public defenders, and the state has frozen hiring to deal with its expected massive deficit.

Diminishing the ranks of an office that handled 54,000 cases last year and now has 116 lawyers -- who already carry double the caseload recommended by the American Bar Association -- is a sobering prospect. Ward calls it insane.

"We're being asked to do more cases with less people, and it's impossible," he said.

No guarantees

Hennepin County's public defender's office, the state's largest, is something of a hybrid. While other district offices have been solely operated by the state since 1999, Hennepin County continues to make a gradual transition from county to state ownership. About 57 percent of its workers remain on the county payroll, the rest paid by the state.

The county provides a third of the Hennepin public defender office's $21.4 million budget. County officials are eager to further draw down that commitment and increase the state's share.

The retirement incentive program would be open to Hennepin public defenders with at least eight years experience. Ward said he's confident most takers would be those closing in on retirement. A similar incentive program three years ago, before Ward joined the office, failed to spark any retirements, he said.

Veteran public defenders paid by the state make $117,000, while fresh hires are paid $52,000. Commissioners, noting that the state stood to save money if the retirement incentive works, asked Ward if he thought the state would replace the people leaving.

"I can't give you that guarantee," he said. Besides the hiring freeze, the state public defender's office had to reduce its full-time attorney complement by 27, which it did through attrition.

"It's a huge concern. The state better live up to its responsibility of providing public defenders," Commissioner Mark Stenglein said.

The Hennepin office has already seen two senior attorneys retire this year, and another may leave soon, Ward said. Moreover, five attorneys will take "salary savings" leaves of up to a year starting this month.

To close the gaps, Ward said he has two choices: work with the courts to extend the amount of time to handle cases, or contract with lawyers from outside the office. Ward said that doesn't mean he can sign any attorney off the street to handle his office's complicated and fast-paced work.

"I'm not going to practice on the poor," he said.

Kevin Duchschere • 612-673-4455