Kansas has slowed the public defender turnover rate following a pay raise, although it still remains stubbornly high.
The Kansas News Service reports that the state lost 13% of its public defenders last year, an improvement from one year earlier when nearly a fourth of them quit.
The head of the State Board of Indigents' Defense Services credits the small pay raise from the Legislature for the slowdown. But Heather Cessna says the agency will need more money to fill jobs that have stayed open for years.