State government spending on indigent defense steadily dropped from 2008 through 2012, according to a new report by Bureau of Justice Statistics.
The report provides a state-by-state breakdown of indigent defense expenditures and legislation, between 2008 and 2012.
During that time period, state government indigent defense expenditures decreased at an average rate of 1.1 percent per year. In 2012, state governments spent $2.2 billion nationally on indigent defense, down from its height of $2.4 billion.
But researchers note that the overall decrease kept pace with overall state judicial budgets. Indigent defense accounted for between 9.5 and 10 percent of state judicial budgets in each of the years studied.
Read the full report HERE.