El Paso attorney says federal funding lapse has left public defenders unpaid for months

EL PASO, Texas (KVIA) — For more than four months, federal court-appointed defense attorneys in El Paso and across the country have been working without pay.

Cori Harbour, who has served as a Criminal Justice Act panel attorney for about 20 years, says she received her last payment on June 30.

Since then, she and thousands of other defense lawyers nationwide have gone unpaid as federal funding for court-appointed defense work ran dry earlier than expected.

“We started getting notices in March that there was a funding shortfall,” Harbour said. “It was an intentional underfunding by Congress for the particular budget that pays court-appointed attorneys and service providers. We were told the funds would run out in late July, but they actually ran out July 3.”

The CJA program provides legal representation to defendants in federal criminal cases who cannot afford an attorney, a constitutional right under the Sixth Amendment. Across the U.S., more than 12,000 panel attorneys handle these cases alongside federal public defenders.

“October 1 came and went, and because of the shutdown, nothing’s being processed,” she said. “It’s unrealistic to expect attorneys and service providers to work that long without payment.”

The Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts reportedly owes more than $90 million to panel attorneys for work already completed in fiscal year 2025.

Harbour said that shortfall will likely spill into next year’s budget, potentially leading to more unpaid months in 2026.

Many attorneys, including Harbour, are now taking on other work to stay afloat.

“I’ve pivoted to doing things I normally wouldn’t—guardian ad litem cases, wills and trusts, even probate work,” she said. “I’m also a municipal court judge, and I’ve started working more shifts there just to make ends meet.”

Harbour said she believes the issue reflects a broader political imbalance in the federal justice system.

“If you look at it, we have a fully funded investigative branch and prosecution branch, but we don’t have a fully funded defense branch,” she said. “There’s definitely some politics at play.”

Harbour added that several trials have been delayed because defense teams can’t afford to bring in experts or investigators without guaranteed payment. In some cases, judges have granted continuances or even stayed proceedings.

“It’s unfair to defendants who are sitting in jail waiting,” she said. “I’ve seen trials continued because attorneys can’t work for free. And service providers aren’t willing to sit through a trial for weeks not knowing when they’ll be paid.”

While Harbour and her colleagues have reached out to lawmakers, they’ve been told there’s little Congress can do until a new budget or continuing resolution is passed.

“We’ve been told, ‘We appreciate the work you’re doing—please keep doing it,’” Harbour said. “But we can’t keep doing it for free.”

Despite her long career in public defense, Harbour said this crisis might mark the end of her time on the federal panel.

“I think this might be it for me unless I see some real changes,” she said. “It’s stressful, it’s unfair, and it’s unsustainable.”

Harbour urged the public to understand the broader implications of the funding lapse.

“About 90% of defendants in the federal system require a court-appointed attorney,” she said. “If this continues, we’ll lose experienced attorneys, and defendants’ constitutional rights will suffer.”