As the opioid crisis raged across Pennsylvania, public defenders increasingly represented people whose charges stemmed from their addiction. In Elk County — a sparse mountainous region home to just over 30,000 people — local officials saw opioid settlement funds as a much-needed solution.

Gary Knaresboro, Elk County’s chief public defender, said his office interacts directly with people experiencing addiction. He believes public defenders are often uniquely positioned to intercede to change lives for the better. “I think we have to present that chance to everybody, whether they take advantage of it or not,” he said. But when Elk County asked the Pennsylvania Opioid Misuse and Addiction Abatement Trust for guidance, hoping not to violate rules governing how to properly use the funds, the body provided a disappointing answer: No.

“Since the services of an assistant public defender are required to be provided by the counties, the costs associated with their position would not be considered an abatement strategy,” the response from the trust’s advisory committee said. The guidance — which was shared with Elk County and posted on the trust’s website — came as a blow to public defenders in Elk County and across the state, whose work is constitutionally guaranteed, but has long been severely underfunded.

While prosecutors' offices have for years received millions of dollars in reimbursement from the state, until this year Pennsylvania did not contribute consistent funding to indigent defense, leaving counties to shoulder the financial burden. In December, the legislature approved $7.5 million to aid counties in providing no-cost counsel to people accused of a crime, but the money is unlikely to level the playing field against well-funded prosecutors, experts told Spotlight PA in January.

Prosecutors’ officers also receive funds from the opioid settlements. Ten offices were entitled to more than $4.5 million in opioid settlement money in 2022 and 2023 as part of the state’s distribution plan.