The five counties, Suffolk, Washington, Ontario, Onondaga and Schuyler, won a lawsuit in 2014 that ended in the New York State Office of
Indigent Legal Services taking charge of each county's public defense expenses.
When the Wisconsin Access to Justice Commission meets on Friday it will be bittersweet due to the refusal by state legislators to
take action that would remove Wisconsin from the list of only four states that provide no state funding to support civil
legal services to the
indigent.