Audit: Minnesota public defenders shoulder high caseloads — even by 30-year-old standards

ST. PAUL — Minnesota public defenders are struggling under heavy caseloads to fulfill their constitutional obligation to represent every person accused of a crime who can t afford a lawyer, according to a report from the Office of the Legislative Auditor released Tuesday, Oct. 6. The state s roughly 600 public defenders represented people in more than 135,000 cases in 2025, ranging from disorderly conduct to murder. That s 225 cases per lawyer, though caseloads vary based on the seriousness and complexity of cases. For the entire five-year period analyzed in the evaluation, average caseloads have exceeded state standards meant to ensure attorneys can meet their ethical duty to provide prompt, competent, and diligent representation. What s more, the Office of the Legislative Auditor found the governing body overseeing public defense still hasn t updated the state s caseload standards despite being advised by a similar audit in 2010 that the standards were outdated.