COLDWATER, MI (WTVB) – Branch County Administrator Bud Norman told the County Board of Commissioners during their work session on Friday that the interview process for a county chief public defender will start in April.
He wants to make sure the individuals are qualified before they are brought before the Commissioners. Branch County’s contract with the Michigan Indigent Defense Commission was recently submitted. Norman said the public defender’s office will be initially located in the northwest corner of the former Pines Behavioral Health building.
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.