Gov. Charlie Crist said Thursday that the state likely will not have to withhold funds in coming months from the budgets of Florida's prosecutors and public defenders, a possible move that had threatened to roil South Florida's criminal justice system.

''My hope is that we don't have to hold it back. But I think we're trying to be prudent,'' Crist said.

In March, Crist had ordered a 15-percent holdback for the final three months of the fiscal year ending June 30. The reason: Dwindling state tax collections punched a $900 million hole in the state budget, and federal stimulus money isn't expected to arrive until later in the year.

The holdback amounted to $17 million from prosecutors and public defender offices statewide.

But state tax collections appear to be holding steady in March. If the revenue estimates remain solid in April, Crist's administration will likely release some of the held-back money -- which totaled about $800 million across all departments statewide.

The governor will make a determination by the third week in April.

The holdback had raised the specter of furloughs -- unpaid days off -- for prosecutors and public defenders, whose offices spend the biggest chunk of their funding on salaries. That would have created scheduling delays and logistical nightmares at Miami-Dade's already swollen criminal courthouse, and further belt-tightening for Broward prosecutors and public defenders.

Just last week, Miami-Dade State Attorney Katherine Fernández Rundle sent an e-mail to staffers warning that the potential 15-percent holdback would create ``dire circumstances.''

''Therefore, to be fair to you, I am sending this e-mail to give each of you advance notice so you can plan your personal budget accordingly,'' she wrote, not specifically mentioning furloughs.

Fernández Rundle's office declined comment Thursday. But Crist sent a reassuring message: ``Kathy's a friend. And I don't think chaos is going to happen.''

Crist's office has been besieged with requests for more money from about 30 public defenders and state attorneys. They include Miami-Dade Public Defender Carlos J. Martinez, who while optimistic this week, warned that employees could face at least three furlough days under a worst-case scenario.

''That's not my preference, but we would have to look seriously at furloughs,'' he said. ``There aren't a lot of options.''

Furloughs are not on the table in Broward, yet.

A recent glut of job vacancies will go unfilled at the Broward State Attorney's Office, and the public defender's office says that to save money its lawyers are listening to tape recordings of depositions -- instead of ordering pricey transcripts -- to prepare for trial.

''We will continue in our underpaid, overworked and underappreciated capacity,'' said Broward Public Defender Howard Finkelstein.

Miami-Dade judges, whose support staff has been cut by 20 percent this year, are coordinating with the state attorney and public defender offices to prepare for the possible holdback.

Certain parts of the criminal justice system -- such as mandated hearings for defendants within the first 24 hours of arrest -- cannot by law be shut down. But if furloughs happen, attorneys on both sides would lose valuable days normally used to prepare for trial or plea deals.

Unless the governor indeed releases the held-back funding, ''There is no doubt criminal cases are going to be delayed and possibly lost,'' Miami-Dade's Chief Judge Joseph P. Farina said. ``There will be fewer trials. There is going to be a back-up in county jails with defendants in custody awaiting trial -- and public safety [would be] compromised.''

Circuit Judge Stanford Blake, who oversees administration of Miami-Dade's felony courts, plans to meet next week with Fernández and Martinez to talk solutions.

One possible option, he said: holding trials only three days a week.

''We're going to have to be very creative and proactive in trying to do whatever we can to keep the system going,'' Blake said.

Miami Herald staff writer Diana Moskovitz contributed to this report.

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