To: Martin L. Cousineau, Finance Committee Chairperson
From: Nathaniel C. Perry, III, Chief Public Defender
title
RE: Approval of request to create, post, and fill two new Senior Assistant Public Defender Positions that will replace two vacant Trial Specialist positions; positions are fully grant funded
recommendation
BOARD ACTION REQUESTED:
Approve request to create, post, and fill two new Senior Assistant Public Defender positions that will replace two vacant Trial Specialist positions.
BACKGROUND:
In 2008, the National Legal Aid and Defender Association published a report finding that the State of Michigan failed to provide constitutionally adequate defense counsel to those who cannot afford an attorney. In 2013, the state legislature created the Michigan Indigent Defense Commission (MIDC) to establish and enforce minimum standards for the delivery of indigent defense, as well as to "ensure the state's public defense system is fair, cost-effective, and constitutional while simultaneously protecting public safety and accountability." Under this mandate, the MIDC outlined nine standards for indigent defense. The last two standards were officially approved by LARA on October 24, 2023, and go into effective on October 1, 2024. By statute, the MIDC provides funding to local systems to comply with the standards.
DISCUSSION:
The Office of the Public Defender is responsible for providing qualified, effective assistance of counsel guaranteed by the Constitutions of the United States and the State of Michigan. The MIDC's Standard 6 mandating caseload maximums and Standard 7 requiring specific attorney qualifications, both in years and trial experience, to handle certain case levels will go into effect on October 1, 2024. Our office needs experienced attorneys and we need enough attorneys to bear the caseload. We recently lost several staff due to the pay disparity between the prosecutor's office and the public defender. Our office needs staff attorneys t...
Click here for full text