Muskogee County defendants who can’t afford an attorney have a “real good group of lawyers” to represent them, a local judge says.

“They are overloaded — but they do a good job,” said Muskogee County District Judge Tom Alford. “They try as hard as anybody else to get a good outcome for their client.”

In Muskogee County, attorneys bid on an indigent defense contract. A group of four attorneys handle the indigent defense cases.

“It’s up to us to divvy it (workload) up,” said Roger Hilfiger, a former U.S. attorney who handles 30 percent of the group’s cases.

Longtime Muskogee attorney Jay Cook handles one-third, as does Hilfiger’s attorney daughter, Heather. Muskogee attorney Larry Vickers handles 10 percent.

This last fiscal year they dealt with about 1,100 people, between 100 and 150 more than the year before, Roger Hilfiger said.

Cook said he spends about two-thirds of his time on indigent defense cases.

“It’s burdensome,” he said. “We do it for some reason, and we’re getting a lot more because of the economic problems.”

He said he’s a little concerned that they’re getting so many clients lately that are out on bond, when normally, if they can bond out, it is believed they can hire their own attorney.

He and Hilfiger have been representing indigent defendants for about 15 years, he said.

Cook said he and Hilfiger have had some clients quite happy with their services and some not so happy.

Dallas Seabolt, 52, of Fort Gibson sings Hilfiger’s praises.

He said he couldn’t have hired a lawyer that would have “tried any harder for me. He really argued in my behalf.

“I think Roger did a wonderful job — he got personal. He kept my family informed of what was going on.”

Muskogee’s indigent defense attorneys are really dedicated to their work, Alford said.