Michigan is not the only state struggling with an inadequate public defender system. The Missouri Supreme Court issued a unanimous ruling (PDF) this week ordering judges, prosecutors and public defenders to work together to find ways to fix the indigent defense system in that state.

The Missouri Supreme Court said Tuesday that it “expects” presiding judges, prosecutors and public defenders to “work together cooperatively” to address the overloaded public defender system and find ways to provide poor defendants with effective legal counsel.

In a unanimous opinion , Judge Michael A. Wolff suggested several possibilities for addressing the overworked public defender. They included prosecutors agreeing not to seek prison time in particular cases or judges deciding not to appoint a lawyer in certain cases, raising the possibility of dismissal. Another possibility would be for an overworked public defender’s office to refuse to take any new cases for a time.

What the Missouri Public Defender’s Commission may not do, however, is what it has tried to do up until now. It cannot refuse to represent a defendant who previously had a private lawyer. It cannot refuse to represent a person facing probation revocation. And a judge cannot appoint a full-time public defender to represent a poor person on his own time, working in his “private capacity.”

Missouri ranks 49th out of the 50 states in funding for indigent defense. Michigan is little better, ranking 44th in the nation. A study earlier this year by the National Legal Aid and Defender Association concluded that Michigan’s public defender system was so ineffective that it presented a “constitutional crisis” for the state.

As recently as last month, Attorney General Eric Holder spotlighted Michigan as an example of a failed indigent defense system.