Wrap: Director Michael Barrett said the inadequate hours a public attorney spends on each case forces innocent people into jail, costing taxpayers more than a well-funded public defender system would.

Barrett said the state has made it impossible for him to do his job.

Governor Jay Nixon withheld almost three million dollars from the public defender system, according to the department's annual report. The governor noted that funding was still increased even with the money diverted.

Reporting from the state Capitol, I'm Jack Morrisroe.

Wrap: The Missouri Public Defender system is losing about twenty percent of its employees each year, citing low pay and an inability to do their jobs.

Trial attorneys in the public defender system took on about two-hundred and seventeen cases each in twenty-twelve. There were only two-hundred and fifty-one weekdays that year, including holidays.

The former commission chair, Douglas Copeland, described the department as a 'system in crisis.'

The department reported that Governor Jay Nixon withheld almost three million dollars from the public defender system last year. Nixon said funding was still increased after the money was diverted.

Reporting from the state Capitol, I'm Jack Morrisroe.