Workforce shortage in North Dakota impacting both prosecutors and public defenders

The stack of papers on Julie Lawyer’s desk represents only a portion of the case files she tends to as Burleigh County state’s attorney.

“These aren’t as serious; not urgent,” she said, taking the top one. It’s a drug case, as are so many that come through her office, and this one is in the pile mostly because there’s no victim, no restitution needed, and nobody is in any immediate danger. But it, like the others in the stack, has to get handled.

“We’ll get to it,” she said.

Lawyer, who was elected state’s attorney in 2018, is in the same position as many prosecutors in North Dakota: short on employees and working long hours.

The shortage impacting Lawyer and others around the state seems to follow national trends. Applications at U.S. law schools accredited by the American Bar Association peaked in 2004 at 100,600. That number declined in recent years, rebounding to 60,700 in 2018.

Read more: https://bismarcktribune.com/news/state-and-regional/workforce-shortage-in-north-dakota-impacting-both-prosecutors-and-public/article_ef48d27a-eb21-5289-9aaa-009fafaa7f98.html