One In Four Kansas Public Defenders Quit Last Year, Leaving Agency 'In Crisis'

[Sherman A1]

Ruslan Ivanov loved being a public defender. What he didn’t love was the way his work constantly followed him — at home, with friends and family, even on vacation.

On one trip to Colorado, he stood in front of a breathtaking mountain view. And started thinking about a case.

“I thought about, ‘I need to do something. Is there something that I forgot? Is there something that I’m missing?’” he said. “I still thought about the individuals that I encountered and their life situations … too much of that is maybe detrimental in one’s job as an attorney, but I still thought about it.”

From 2015 to 2018, Ivanov was an attorney for the Kansas State Board of Indigents’ Defense Services, the state agency that provides criminal defense to people who can’t afford their own lawyers. He worked in Wichita and Topeka, mostly handling drug cases, assaults, thefts and weapons possession.

https://www.kmuw.org/post/one-four-kansas-public-defenders-quit-last-year-leaving-agency-crisis