The Macomb County Office of Public Defender was formed in 2020 with the goal of increasing the quality of legal representation of indigent clients being charged with crimes. Separated from the judiciary, the Macomb County Office of Public Defender is part of the Macomb County Executive Office.
Creation of the Macomb County Office of Public Defender follows the 2013 permanent creation of the Michigan Indigent Defense Commission. The MIDC was created to ensure that there is a fair, cost-effective and constitutional public defense system through the State of Michigan. The mandate for the MIDC is to develop and implement minimum standards for the provision of indigent defense services.
The mission of the Macomb County Office of Public Defender is “to operate, supervise and manage a system of providing court appointed counsel for indigent defendants.” This system seeks to comply with the currently adopted standards set forth by the MIDC. These standards are designed to ensure the right to be represented by counsel. These standards include:
- Requiring that indigent defendants are assigned attorneys at critical stages of their case.
- Requiring that assigned attorneys keep up with minimum training requirements.
- Requiring assigned attorneys to timely meet with their clients at early stages.
- Having resources available for experts and investigators to aid the defense.
The Macomb County Office of Public Defender assists in meeting these standards.
In addition, the Macomb County Office of Public Defender has staff attorneys who carry out the added mission of “competently, effectively, and vigorously protecting and defending the constitutional rights of clients.” By representing indigent clients, the Office of Public Defender stays in touch with needs of indigent defendants in Macomb County and seeks to implement positive changes. The overall goal is to even the playing field when representing clients who face the seemingly vast resources of police departments, criminal investigative teams and prosecutors. The Macomb County Office of Public Defender seeks to ensure that constitutional rights are being protected, and that court proceedings are fair.