The board approved the new county office of public defender at last Thursday’s commissioners meeting.
Many employees of the nonprofit Kent County Office of the Defender, which has provided public defenders to indigent citizens charged with a crime for the past few decades, spoke against the new county office.
“What is the gain from creating an office out of thin air in two and a half months?”
“We are telling you and they are telling you that this is not the best way for us to operate.”
“The people we serve, they have been arrested by county employees, they are being prosecuted by county employees, and they are being sentenced by county employees. What makes any of you think that they would believe for a second a county employee defending them?”
County Administrator Al Vandenberg recommended the change in March after the board asked the National Association for Public Defense to conduct an assessment of current operations and found room for improvement.
New state standards signed into law last October require local review of defense attorneys to ensure they meet certain requirements, something Vandenberg believes can be done more easily through a public office.
Vandenberg cites the fact that 30 other Michigan counties already operate in-house public defender offices, and believes this change will ensure quality representation, increase transparency and be more cost-effective.
Those opposed to the change site the influx of 1200 cases over the past two months, questioning how the county plans on managing such a workload.
