KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (WVLT) -- The Knox County Public Defender's office is facing another crunch -- way too many cases to deal with.

Tuesday, the guy in charge, Mark Stephens, appeared before all Knox County Sessions Court judges, asking the courts to stop appointing his office to misdemeanor cases.

So, where will defendants who can't afford legal help turn?

For now it will continue to be the public defender.

The five judges will take some time to consider the four hours of testimony they heard Tuesday, and even if you don't care about people charged with crimes, pay attention. Millions of your tax dollars are at stake.

It's a rare sight, and it shows just how important this hearing is. All five of Knox County's General Sessions Court judges leave their own busy courtrooms to hear one case together. In over four hours of testimony, several witnesses send a clear message, the Knox County Public Defender's Office has more work than it can handle.

Assistant Public Defender Jamie Poston says, "I haven't left court where I haven't felt guilty about someone that I think I could have done more on their case."

Those who work in the public defender's officer testify about working holidays, nights and weekends while continuing to fall further behind. The assistants and their boss admit to cutting corners, saying they don't even have enough time to meet some of their clients before going to court to represent them.

Indiana University law professor Norman Lefstein says, “Frankly, it risks the potential for genuinely innocent people pleading guilty to offenses to which they ought not plead."

So what's the solution? Public Defender Mark Stephens says the real cure is hiring more assistant public defenders. The state legislature would have to come up with the money for that. At $42,000 each per year plus benefits, ten new lawyers would cost about 550-thousand dollars per year. In the short run, Stephens says the solution is appointing private lawyers to take misdemeanor cases. The state pays them on a case-by-case basis, but that would cost about two-and-a-half million dollars per year, using nearly two million more of your tax dollars to accomplish the same result

Stephens says, "It's a temporary solution to maybe get into the next legislative session and hopefully, maybe a brighter day in terms of financial resources for the state."

The judges did not give a clear indication of how long they'll take to issue a decision.

The public defender says the fact that all five of them took almost an entire day out of their court schedules for a hearing shows that they are taking this seriously.

For at least the next few weeks, Stephens says they'll just try to stay above water.