ATLANTA --- The Georgia Capital Defenders Office was seen as a promising national model when it opened its doors in 2005. Funded by court fines and fees and staffed by well-trained lawyers and investigators, the office was supposed to improve what had been an uneven patchwork of death penalty representation across the state.

But three years after its launch, the office is reeling from funding cuts that have sent some of its experienced lawyers packing. Others are actively seeking new jobs. Support staff is bare bones. And getting outside lawyers to handle cases where the office has a potential conflict is becoming a more difficult task. The reason? The outside counsel don't always get paid.

Three lawyers have left the 14-attorney office in the past eight months or are preparing to leave. That includes the former director, Chris Adams, who said the funding shortfall made it impossible for him to give clients effective representation.

"They are losing their experience. This began with so much optimism. Its terribly disappointing in that regard," said Stephen Bright, the president of the Southern Center for Human Rights, a nonprofit law firm representing prisoners, poor people and those facing the death penalty.

Jerry Word, the interim director of the Capital Defender's Office, acknowledged this.

"We are losing good people," he said.

The exodus comes at a time when all sides agree the number of death penalty cases is climbing in Georgia. Most lawyers in the Capital Defenders Office are juggling about eight active cases, Mr. Word said -- a workload some death penalty experts call troubling.

The problem in Georgia has grown so pronounced that the president of the American Bar Association weighed in.

"There simply is no ethical way to impose the death penalty without giving defense lawyers proper funding and training," William H. Neukom said in a statement provided to The Associated Press.

State Sen. Preston Smith, who has been critical of public defender spending, said the capital defenders' complaint should be with the Georgia Public Defender Standards Council, which divvies up the funds for the death penalty unit and other indigent defense programs. He argued that state funding for indigent defense has climbed steadily.

Public defenders received $42 million in 2005, but their funding dropped to $35 million this year, according to the state budget. But Mr. Smith said that does not count other fees and revenue sources the public defenders receive.

"I think what you have here are management problems dealing with budget constraints," said Mr. Smith, R-Rome. "We are not going to simply let them spend money unchecked."

One thing is clear: Funding for the state Capital Defenders Office has declined. It received more than $7 million in 2005. The office received $4.5 million in the current fiscal year, well below the $10.5 million it had requested.

The office is charged with providing direct representation in all cases where the death penalty is sought against an indigent client. In the 43 cases it has handled, just three death sentences have been handed down.