Public defender clears $125,403 as he retires

Tuesday, Jan. 27, 2004 | 9:22 a.m.

Public Defender Marcus Cooper is getting a $125,403 check for retiring from his county job.

The money is a combination of one-time severance, accrued sick and vacation pay, a portion of longevity pay, bonuses and regular pay.

Cooper, 55, announced in late October that he was retiring from the job he has held since 2001 and from the department he has served for 27 years. The retirement was effective Monday.

Cooper had 834 unused sick hours worth $54,599 and had 234 hours of vacation leave worth $17,645, officials said. Cooper is also getting $8,208 in pro-rated longevity pay.

Because he was a supervisor, Cooper is to receive 12 weeks pay for severance, which amounts to $36,522.

Because Cooper did not take 40 weeks of sick leave last year, he received 24 hours of bonus salary worth $1,826.

The check also included his final regular pay for six days, which came to $3,652, a 2 percent bonus of $3,004 and a vehicle allowance of $53.

Cooper, who got an annual salary of $158,260, technically did not have the 30 years needed for county workers to retire. However, over nine years he had purchased through payroll deductions more than three additional years to reach the required retirement qualification.

While large separation paychecks for public employees tend to upset some taxpayers, public officials have long maintained that unless they offer attractive packages, they will not be able to compete with private companies and hire highly qualified people to best serve the public.

Cooper's tenure was surrounded by controversy and criticism.

A report by a nationally known research agency, the Spangenberg Group, in January 2001 was critical of the county public defender's office for bringing just 156 of 28,898 indigent defense cases, or 0.6 percent, to trial in 1999 when the national average was 4 to 7 percent.

A report released in April by the National Legal Aid and Defender Association -- a report called for by Cooper -- outlined similar deficiencies within the public defender's office.

Cooper said he was not forced to retire but rather said it was time to move on and that he wanted to spend more time with his family.