Montana Public Defense has seen a lot in the 21st century. A lawsuit in the early aughts lead to massive changes and the creation of the state public defender system. Now almost 20 years later, the Montana Public Defense system is still only treading water. Driven by an shortage of attorneys around the state and severe under pay, the system is looking for new, innovative ways to stay afloat. Joining Hunter to discuss these newer data driven approaches is Brett Schandelson, Director of the State Public Defender. With so few attorneys in so much of the state, the challenges ahead of Brett and his team are immense, but the changes he is implementing just might be what saves Public Defense in Montana.     Guests: Brett Schandelson, Director, Montana Office of the State Public Defender     Resources: Office of the State Public Defender https://publicdefender.mt.gov/ Case Refusal Yellowstone County https://apnews.com/article/courts-montana-billings-5c9b515e281d4f53ca02bc4880226bf8 Broken Defense Coverage of Montana Public Defense https://missoulian.com/news/national/unconstitutional-public-defense-systems-upend-lives-freedom-across-west/article_22b17815-34f2-5798-a6a4-6d537e6a9886.html   Contact Hunter Parnell: Publicdefenseless@gmail.com  Instagram @PublicDefenselessPodcast Twitter                                                                 @PDefenselessPod www.publicdefenseless.com  Subscribe to the Patron www.patreon.com/PublicDefenselessPodcast  Donate on PayPal https://www.paypal.com/donate/?hosted_button_id=5KW7WMJWEXTAJ Donate on Stripe https://donate.stripe.com/7sI01tb2v3dwaM8cMN