New Orleans had 39 public defenders before Hurricane Katrina struck last August, all but eight of whom were laid off because of a funding crisis precipitated by the storm.

The report says: "The Louisiana State Legislature and Orleans Parish officials should work together to provide the Orleans Parish defender program with funding in a manner that is adequate, predictable and data-driven. Reliance on [traffic] tickets as the main source of funding lacks these attributes."

Currently, public defenders in New Orleans work part time and are paid $29,000 a year. The report says public defenders need to be full time and that they should be paid an average of $54,000.