Michigan Indigent Defense Commission Standards

Standard 6 limits attorneys to receiving up to 150 felony assignments or 400 non-traffic misdemeanor assignment or 800 traffic misdemeanor/probation violation assignments per year.  If an attorney receives a variety of assignments, Standard 6 restrictions should be applied proportionally.

^{*Standard 6 does not mention traffic misdemeanors, probation violations, or hourly work in its text, however, the MIDC has directed how to score these items on pages 30 and 31 of the Grant Manual.}

Again, Standard 6 is a proportional limit. In other words, taking work in one of these categories also decreases the attorney’s ability to take work in the other categories on a proportional basis.

Cases are added to an attorney’s caseload on the date they accept the appointment. Hours are attributed to the date of service. For example, an arraignment shift on July 1, 2026, will count until July 1, 2027. When an attorney closes a case does not affect their Standard 6 case count.

Attorneys should also know that a reduction of the original charges does not affect their case count numbers. The Grant Manual says that “In cases where the final charges are reduced through plea negotiations, the case counts according to the original charge.”

Attorneys can track their case count using the table provided by the MIDC at Resources for Calculating Case Loads. At minimum, attorneys should track any/all events reducing case counts on a simple local form, such as this one provided by the Macomb County Office of Public Defender:

Removed case count form (Must be downloaded to your computer and opened with Adobe Acrobat)

When Assignments Shouldn’t Count

The MIDC has indicated that there may be times when a case should not be added to an attorney’s case count and times when a case should be removed from an attorney’s case count. However, if the amount of time/work an attorney has put into a case is substantial, it should count as an assignment even though the attorney did not complete the case.

Removal Before Case Conclusion

According to the Grant Manual, “Reassignments do not count as a case for an attorney where reassignment is requested before significant work is performed.”

Felonies—

     Appointed in District:

• Removal at the probable cause conference stage (even if preliminary exam waived) does not count as an assignment.
• Removal after a preliminary exam was conducted, or if waived, the circuit court arraignment has occurred, counts as an assignment.
• Had a preliminary exam or bound over to circuit court counts as an assignment.

     Appointed in Circuit: 

• If removal occurs after the attorney has appeared at up to two pretrials, the case does not count as an assignment unless the attorney also filed a written motion (other than a motion to withdraw) or conducted an evidentiary hearing.
• If removal occurs after a pretrial plus written motion is filed, or evidentiary hearing is conducted, or the attorney has attended at least three pretrials, or a plea is entered, or sentencing has occurred, the case counts as an assignment.
• If removal occurs after a pretrial plus written motion is filed or evidentiary hearing is conducted, or the attorney has attended at least three pretrials, or a plea is entered or sentencing has occurred the case counts as an assignment.
• Three pretrials, motion, evidentiary hearing, plea or sentence counts as an assignment.

Misdemeanors—

A case will not count as an assignment if the attorney is removed after attending no more than two pretrial conferences unless the attorney also filed a written motion (not a motion to withdraw), conducted an evidentiary hearing, or represented the defendant during a plea or at sentencing.

• Three pretrials, motion, evidentiary hearing, plea, or sentence counts as an assignment

Simultaneous Services (One Defendant, Multiple Cases)

The Grant Manual also says that “A case is a charge or set of charges filed against a defendant in a court arising from the same transaction and/or that are being handled together, regardless of how the court assigns case numbers.” Below are some examples as to how this can play out.

If all cases are assigned to the same judge and all proceedings are, for the most part, scheduled for the same dates, this is counted as one case.

If two cases are assigned to the same judge and each case’s proceedings are on different days, like when a defendant is being prosecuted by the state and the city, this would be counted as two cases.

If two cases are assigned to one judge and all proceedings are, for the most part, scheduled for the same dates, and two cases are assigned to another judge and all proceedings are, for the most part, scheduled for the same dates but different dates from the other set of cases, this would be counted as two total cases.

When an attorney believes that an assignment shouldn’t count, they should submit a written request to have the assignment removed from their Standard 6 case count to their appointing authority. Many appointing authorities have specific forms that attorneys must use to make this request. These are the forms that the Macomb County Office of Public Defender requires:

Felony Request to Remove Assignment (Must be downloaded to your computer and opened with Adobe Acrobat)

Misdemeanor Request to Remove Assignment (Must be downloaded to your computer and opened with Adobe Acrobat)

If their request is granted, the attorney must provide a copy of the approval to the other systems they receive assignments from.

Under MIDC Standard 7 the Macomb County Office of Public Defender (OPD) will conduct periodic performance evaluations of the attorneys accepting indigent defense assignments.  Every attorney is expected to maintain high standards to competently, effectively and vigorously protect and defend the Constitutional rights of their clients.

Attorneys are evaluated across multiple cases to ensure professionalism and competence with the Michigan Rules of Professional Conduct, standards set forth by the Michigan Indigent Defense Commission (MIDC) and our core competencies.

Attorneys will be evaluated on several "core competency" areas.  Those can be seen here:

     Competencies

In evaluating these core competency areas the ODP will consult various sources, including but not limited to:  Michigan Indigent Defense Act, Michigan Court Rules and Administrative Orders, Michigan Rules of Professional Conduct, along with National Legal Aid & Defender Association Performance Guidelines for Criminal Defense Representation, as well as the laws and legal standards of the State of Michigan.

Our review of attorneys is meant to ensure that overall attorneys are competent, efficient and provide quality representation.  We cannot interfere in individual cases or with an established attorney-client relationship. Attorney-client relationship issues must be addressed on the record with the assigned Judge.

Any other concerns involving a particular case must be addressed on the record with the Judge.  We do not have the authority to remove and/or replace an attorney.  That decision rests solely with the Judge assigned to the case.  We encourage and consider the comments of all stakeholders.

 Attorneys will be asked to complete the following "self-assessment" prior to evaluation:

      Attorney Self Report (Must be downloaded to your computer and opened using Adobe Acrobat.)

The Office of Public Defender encourages input from other legal system stakeholders including judges and prosecutors:

     Stakeholder Survey (Must be downloaded to your computer and opened using Adobe Acrobat.)

If you would like to provide feedback regarding an appointed attorney's performance based on your personal experience, the ODP encourages your input:

     Public Feedback Form (Must be downloaded to your computer and opened using Adobe Acrobat.)

Request for Special Review

Stakeholders who have a significant concern about the performance of an assigned attorney can complete a Request for Special Review Form:

     Special Review Form (Must be downloaded to your computer and opened using Adobe Acrobat)

     Instructions-judges