COLDWATER, MI (WTVB) – The Branch County Board of Commissioners approved the appointment of Matt Glaser of Marshall as the county’s first Michigan Indigent Defense Commission Director Monday afternoon.
His office will represent indigent defendants who can not afford legal counsel.
Glaser was one of four candidates to be interviewed by four of the Commissioners. Fellow Commissioner Terri Norris, who is a former Branch County Prosecutor and who has indicated she will run for the office again next year, was one of the finalists along with Cameron Harwell of Cadillac and Frank Fleishmann of Charlotte.
Glaser’s salary will start at over $75,000. Commissioner Leonard Kolcz voted against his hiring because of the driving distance involved. He also felt Glaser would spend his salary in his home county and Kolcz felt Norris had a better interview.
Each county in Michigan has been required to create an indigent defense plan due to a 2012 lawsuit. Part of the settlement called for the State of Michigan to implement a plan so that a defendant who was indigent would have proper legal representation.
The State of Michigan is spending over $124 million on indigent defense in counties throughout the state. Branch County’s budget is over $674,000 with the state picking up over $523,000 of the costs involved.
