Marion County Public Defenders want pay bump in first contract after unionizing

The big picture: The public defenders voted to unionize last year, adding the office's approximately 230 non-management employees to the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 481.

• They're part of a wave of public defenders unionizing nationwide, including those in Louisville, Philadelphia and Los Angeles.
• "Wages and caseloads for attorneys are the two biggest things," said Lance Bradbury, one of the IBEW representatives working on the public defender negotiations.

Zoom in: Indiana has an attorney shortage that's created a "legal desert" in more than half of its counties.

• Marion County isn't one of them — it has plenty of lawyers, but not enough of them want to work in public defense.
• Inadequate pay is a major factor, said Lucy Frick, a public defender and leader of the unionization effort.
• "All of us are woefully underpaid," she told WRTV in December after the unionization vote.

By the numbers: The average salary for a lawyer in Indiana last year was $144,500.

• Current openings at the Marion County Public Defender's office for non-entry level attorneys have salaries ranging from $74,000 to $85,000.

Between the lines: Not only do public defenders make far less than what private attorneys typically make, Bradbury said, but Marion County's public defenders are making less than people in similar jobs in neighboring communities with a lower cost of living.

He told Axios that the bargaining team has presented to the city a proposal that would provide for substantial raises, but the city's initial reaction was "not necessarily positive."

• The city has not officially responded to the proposal, he said.

• A city spokesperson told Axios they do not comment on ongoing negotiations.

Yes, but: City-County Council members have been more supportive.

• Bradbury said councilors want the wage and caseload issues corrected.
• He said the council is also considering changing an ordinance that requires public defender employees to live in Marion County — an exemption that's already been granted for employees in the prosecutor's office.

What they're saying: "Generally speaking, nobody unionizes if they're happy with how they're being treated by their employer," Bradbury said.

The latest: The city is contract negotiations with unions representing many public employees, including those at the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department and the Marion County Sheriff's Office.

• City officials have said they don't expect those negotiations to be completed before the council votes on the 2025 budget in October but that it's planning for some wage growth in each agency in negotiations.