So, Will posted that several rural Mississippi counties are suing the state, claiming that they can't afford to provide public defenders for criminals in their jurisdiction.

This is a problem in Georgia, too. In fact, the AJC had an article about three weeks ago (it's unavailable on their website unless you want to subscribe, and it's really not worth it) about the fact that several rural Georgia counties were flat out denying poor defendants accused of misdemeanors (even in cases involving jail time) public defenders, in direct violation of Gideon. This is a particular problem in a state like Georgia, which is very polarised between rural and urban and has a lot of very small counties. Add in some racism and the fact that many of these counties can barely afford to educate their students and you have a real problem.

Some possible solutions, attempted with varying degrees of success in Georgia:

• Use local attorneys working pro bono. This has the advantage of being relatively cheap. The state usually pays some court costs, but it saves them a bit of money. Also, since there are often very few criminal cases in these counties, it isn't impossible to find attorneys willing to work. The main disadvantage that I can see is the varying quality of attorneys. There were some horror stories in the AJC article. Also, if no attorney willing to work can be found, the cases can sit on the docket for a long time.
  
• Use local attorneys working for a set fee. The general situation of public defenders in rural Georgia. Like Atticus Finch in To Kill a Mockingbird. Gives generally higher quality of attorneys, though the lawyers willing to work for this fee are often suspect. More expensive than the pro bono guys, but not terribly so. Same problem with cases waiting (sometimes for months) for a willing lawyer to become available.
  
• At least one county in Georgia has gone to hring a part time p.d. This is expensive, but the state has control over the quality of the lawyer. The problem in the rural counties is that there just isn't enough work to justify it.
  

I believe that providing an attorney to someone accused of a crime is generally a good thing, particularly if the person faces jail time. So one of these options will have to suffice. I don't know which is best, really. What do you guys think?