The 10th Judicial Public Defender, one of only five public defenders with appellate offices, had a backlog of 751 cases on June 30, 1997, that was growing at a rate of 25 a month. The Second District Court found that it was reviewing many cases in which defendants had served their full sentences before the Public Defender filed the appellate brief. The Second District ordered the Public Defender to stop taking new cases and eliminate its backlog. Fourteen county governments have complained that they now must pay for attorneys for indigent appellants, a situation caused by a backlog in the 10th Circuit (consisting of Hardee, Highlands, and Polk Counties). The Supreme Court will review the order.