Will cutting health benefits for Lake County public defenders "reduce quality"?

That is what defenders of the status quo claim.

Of course, the whole "part time public defender" position is a scam in the first place. It is a way to give Democrat operatives like Tom O'Donnell benefits and a salary at taxpayer expense.

If they are so valuable, why don't we make it a full time position where they are truly employees of the county, and where they have to give up their "side jobs" and private practices?

They'll never do that, because that would impact the work that they do for the Democrat party. People like Mayor McCheeze's wife, who is a public defender in Julie Cantrell's courtroom, would never stand for it. It would take time away from doing her husband's campaign finance reports.