MISSOULA (AP) -- More than 80 private attorneys are taking on the county's poor clients in an effort to get an understaffed public defender's office back on its feet.

Missoula County public defenders stopped taking new cases in early August, when the office lost control of its caseload amid a staffing crisis, Chief Public Defender Margaret Borg said.

The office was down four attorneys and having trouble finding replacements when Borg went to the District Court and asked judges for help in getting private attorneys to accept cases they could not.

''We just couldn't shoulder the whole burden anymore," Borg said.

The four judges signed a letter Sept. 18 ordering lawyers in Missoula County to help out, saying ''these are essential legal services that are required by law."

Selected lawyers are paid $60 per hour by the state. And while some have balked at the prospect of losing money, most have taken on the new duty with few complaints.

Borg's attorneys are now handling about 150 cases each, and she believes that number will fall if the office gets time to resolve its caseload. She hopes to have two more defenders on staff by mid-November and start accepting new cases again by next year.

Veteran civil attorney Bill Jones has relished the notion of diving back into criminal work after 40 years.

He appeared in District Court recently on behalf of Linda Garrymore, an area woman who faced her probation being revoked for failing to pay restitution in a bad check case.

Jones studied not just the facts surrounding Garrymore's case, but the law surrounding it. He managed to get Garrymore back on probation and out of jail after she paid some of the money back.

''The most important thing for her was to be set free from jail, so I'd say we were successful," Jones said. ''I enjoyed the work."

The scenario, he said, is almost like a return to the ''old" days.

''When I first started practicing 45 years ago, the judges just assigned cases to lawyers," Jones said. ''That was just part of the job to take those cases. And it's still part of the job. The court has the power to order anybody with a law license to do their duty as an officer of the court and take these cases."

The temporary help has had its drawbacks. Over the past month, many defendants have showed up in court without an attorney, forcing many hearings to be continued and delaying some cases.

District Judge Doug Harkin's patience has worn thin.

''I want people to take these cases and if for some reason they think they can't, then they're going to have to come explain that to me," he said. ''But I want them in court."

County Attorney Fred Van Valkenburg is also frustrated, but said the growth of Missoula has put his office and Borg's in a tough spot.

''The bigger we get, the more work there will be for everyone in the criminal justice system," he said. ''We're stretched so tightly that one little blip comes up and we're in trouble. And that's where we are now."

Information from: Missoulian, http://www.missoulian.com