A lack of lawyers interested in doing court-appointed criminal defense work has Kanawha County officials claiming defendants are in danger of being denied basic rights. Kanawha County’s chief judge is warning the issue has reached a “crisis ” level in an e-mail to the county’s lawyers, urging more to take part in court-appointed cases for both indigent criminal defendants and children in abuse and neglect cases. Judge Maryclair Akers told Eyewitness News she is hoping the legal community in the 13th Judicial Circuit will step up and resolve the problem but hasn’t ruled out forcing law firms to take on some of the load. “In Kanawha County we have enough lawyers certainly that could volunteer their time for at least a couple of cases a year. We hope not to, but, yes, that is an option,” The letter warns the number of attorneys willing to take court-appointed criminal defense work in Kanawha County has plunged from 63 to only 11. A court expansion next year will compound the problem in Charleston.