From what little, and indirect, contact I've had with the US criminal justice system my impression is most defense lawyers are paid for by the state (e.g. the p

From what little, and indirect, contact I've had with the US criminal justice system my impression is most defense lawyers are paid for by the state (e.g. the public defenders office). A quick search turns up this[1] report from 2000 that says: Over 80% of felony defendants charged with a violent crime in the country’s largest counties and 66% in U.S. district courts had publicly financed attorneys. Having said that, the report is from 2000 and it seems the data is from the mid to late '90s. So things may have changed since then but I don't see any evidence of that. I'm not sure that combining the prosecutor's and public defender's office would work, but having a system where the lawyers end up switching between prosecution and defense cases does seem like it may help avoid pushing them into extreme views for either side. 1. https://www.bjs.gov/content/pub/pdf/dccc.pdf https://www.bjs.gov/content/pub/pdf/dccc.pdf