Attn: All Crooks! Tri-Cities Has a Defense Lawyer Shortage

When the questioning by police gets too tough, and you think you can't lie anymore and get away with it, you just say you want to speak to a lawyer and the questioning stops. In TV cop shows, a few minutes later a lawyer walks in.

In real life, you might be sitting in your cell for a bit longer than that.

According to an article in the Tri-Cities Area Journal of Business, getting enough public defenders to move to the Tri-Cities has always been a challenge. The fact that there are no law schools here is part of the problem, but getting people who want to move to the Tri-Cities is a struggle as well. That seems kind of crazy to me since this area is constantly growing, but factor in the lack of money to pay qualified attorneys, and with covid challenges on top of that, and you end up with a shortage.

So, if you've chosen a life of crime, you might want to try a little harder to not get caught until this defense attorney shortage eases up some. I don't think that's too much to ask and thank you in advance for considering it!