Courtney Curtis, Indiana Prosecuting Attorneys Council assistant executive director, told a Senate committee on March 11, 2025 that the ongoing attorney shortage in Indiana is hitting prosecutors' offices hard.
(Brandon Smith/IPB News)
Indiana’s attorney shortage is hitting prosecutor and public defender offices particularly hard. And lawmakers want to boost state funding for deputy prosecutors and public defenders.
Andrew Cullen, Commission on Court Appointed Attorneys director of policy and communications, said that Indiana is in the bottom 10 nationally for the number of lawyers per capita. And half of the state’s counties are considered legal deserts.
“When courts cannot find qualified lawyers to serve as either public defenders or prosecutors, justice simply cannot be served,” Cullen said.
The average salary for a full-time deputy prosecutor in Indiana is $89,514 a year, according to the Indiana Prosecuting Attorneys Council (IPAC). That’s less than the average starting salary for private sector attorneys.
IPAC Assistant Executive Director Courtney Curtis said experienced prosecutors are leaving.
“So we lose mentors, we lose trainers, we lose core competency,” Curtis said. “Our average level of experience over the last decade, over all 793 attorneys that we have, is four years. We’re not bringing in enough new ones.”
The salary of elected prosecutors is set by state law. In 2024, it was $183,513. Deputy prosecutors are paid by their counties.
HB 1006 would see the state provide funding to counties to pay for half the salary of a deputy prosecutor — if they're paid at least 55 percent of the elected prosecutor’s salary.
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The measure would also increase Indiana's reimbursement for public defenders. Its total cost would be nearly $20 million a year.
The bill would also create a new Special Prosecutor Unit. Special prosecutors step in when a local prosecutor has a conflict of interest in a case, or if they need extra help and resources.
“When we have the prosecutor shortage, we also have a dearth of retired prosecutors willing to take cases where the elected prosecutor has a conflict,” Curtis said.
IPAC would run the Special Prosecutor Unit, which would be funded by the state. Sen. Aaron Freeman (R-Indianapolis), the bill’s sponsor, stressed that the unit would only be utilized when requested.
"I don’t see this as some super prosecutor’s office that’s going to sweep in and take over what that good work is doing," Freeman said. "But I do see the need for some supplemental help."
The legislation is likely to undergo changes in the Senate, potentially around limits to how much the state would spend on the new deputy prosecutor funding.
