From Oregon to Massachusetts, states are struggling to maintain a roster of attorneys to take on public defense cases. The number of cases is rising while more attorneys are balking at what they say are low rates of pay to do the work.

Massachusetts lawmakers on Thursday passed a funding bill that includes a pay raise for public defenders as part of an effort to end a legal crisis that led to dozens of cases being dropped and defendants getting out of jail But hours before the vote,

A bill that gives attorneys a pay bump is heading to Gov. Healey to sign into law. On Thursday, the Massachusetts House of Representatives and Senate passed (S 2575), which would give attorneys taking on cases as a public defender for indigent people a $10 an hour pay raise with an additional $10 raise the following year.