SPRINGFIELD -- A new report characterizes Missouri's criminal justice system as on the brink of collapse because of mounting caseloads that are overwhelming the state's public defender system. The even bigger issue is that there seems to be no long-term solution in sight.

This is not a new problem.  The report poses a new sense of urgency, however, because little has improved since the last study in 2005.

One stark statistic: Only Mississippi spends less on indigent defense than Missouri. 

At the State Public Defenders district office in Springfield, the 19 attorneys on staff each handle nearly 130 cases at a time from Greene, Christian and Taney counties.  That's more than double their recommended workloads.

"A lot of times, I don't know that a person, every individual, that comes through this office, that their rights are completely looked out for simply because of the volume of the people we're asked to deal with," said District Public Defender Rodney Hackathorn.

The report, done by the Spangenberg Group of George Mason University, calls for more resources.  With slumping revenues in Jefferson City, that's unlikely to happen next year. Read a summary of the report HERE.

Lawmakers tried to approve a fix this year, passing legislation to allow public defenders to contract with private lawyers to handle overflow and establish maximum caseloads. Under pressure from prosecutors, Gov. Jay Nixon vetoed the legislation.  In his veto letter, Nixon said the legislation would simply "shift the burden to other participants in an already burdened criminal justice system." You can read Nixon's veto message on Senate Bill 37 HERE.

"It was a disappointment," said Hackathorn.

Steve Fenner, an attorney in Springfield and candidate for Greene County prosecuting attorney, says he understands the objections.

"When you set the limit, now public defenders can't take any more cases. The criminal justice system isn't going to stop," he said.

Fenner said a number of ideas are needed to stem the tide of cases that sit on the shelf.

"If you were to, as prosecuting attorney, in a minor misdemeanor cases, waive jail time and hit people with fines, that's going to lighten up some of the public defender caseload," Fenner said.

Some fear inmates will have to be released from jail because the large caseloads delay trials. And, if you lack sympathy for those who need attorneys, Hackathorn notes that they're not the only ones impacted by the wait.

"Victims of crime are also asked then to wait, if it takes long and longer for us to be prepared to go to trial," Hackathorn said.

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Here's The Associated Press report on the same subject:

Missouri's criminal justice system continues to be threatened by a severely overtaxed public defenders system, according to a new study.

Missouri's public defender system has "an overwhelming caseload crisis" that has pushed the state's criminal justice system "to the brink of collapse," said the study issued Friday by the Spangenberg Group and the Center for Justice, Law and Society at George Mason University in Fairfax, Va.

There has been little improvement since a similar study was done in 2005, it said.

Public defenders represent those unable to afford their own attorneys. Offices throughout the state routinely report the attorneys have twice their recommended maximum workloads.

The study noted that Missouri ranks 49th out of 50 states in per-capita spending on indigent defense.

"For close to a decade, [the public defender system] has received no substantial increase in appropriations, despite the fact that year by year, [the system] has submitted budgets demonstrating that it is seriously underfunded and overloaded with cases," the study concluded.

"All three branches of government are on notice that Missouri has been operating a constitutionally inadequate system for some time now."

Earlier this year, Laura Denvir Stith, then chief justice of the Missouri Supreme Court, warned that "vast numbers" of inmates may have to be released from jail because public defenders can't try their cases soon enough.

A state appeals court earlier this year rejected a Public Defender Commission rule that set a maximum caseload and allowed local offices to turn away defendants charged with lesser offenses such as traffic violations or misdemeanors.

In response to that ruling, state lawmakers approved a bill that would have freed public defenders from representing people when prosecutors were not seeking jail time. It also would have authorized the commission to create caseload limits and allowed courts to place defendants on waiting lists when those limits were reached.

But Gov. Jay Nixon vetoed the bill in July, saying the caseload limits and waiting lists could shift more work to courts and prosecutors and burden criminal defendants and victims. Nixon said he was committed to finding more resources to help the criminal justice system work more efficiently.