The new public defender’s office will begin the first of the new year, Halifax County Senior Resident Superior Court Judges Brenda Branch Cy A. Grant said in a joint statement today.
Currently, a chief public defender is being hired to manage the office, which will be staffed with 12 Attorneys and six staff positions.
The chief public defender will determine how to staff all positions.
The public defender is an appointed position and will be appointed every four years.
The main office will be located at the Northampton County Courthouse in Jackson and satellite offices will be located in Bertie, Hertford, and Halifax counties.
Public defenders provide legal representation at state expense for persons who cannot afford to hire private counsel but are entitled to counsel under constitutional or statutory authority in cases ranging from criminal charges to civil commitment, juvenile proceedings, or loss of parental rights.
In counties not served by a public defender, the courts rely on local attorneys who volunteer to provide these services at a specified hourly rate that is often considerably lower than customary rates for most private attorneys.
The addition of this new office means that North Carolina now has a total of 25 offices serving a total of 60 counties in the state.
“The implementation of the public defender’s office will be a huge asset for the courts to move cases expeditiously by increasing the number of attorneys available in court to represent indigent citizens,” Branch said. “By implementing the public defender’s office along with the Halifax Adult Recovery Court program, courts are implementing programs to improve court services to the citizens of Bertie, Halifax, Hertford, and Northampton counties.”
The office was obtained through extensive collaborations among judicial staff in all four counties, the Administrative Office of the Courts, Indigent Defense Services, the Defense Bar, county citizens and ultimately local legislators Representative Michael Wray and Senator Bobby Hanig by advocating in the legislature for approval in this year’s budget.
The approval for the office was linked to a 2022 report from the AOC which determined that Bertie, Halifax, Hertford, and Northampton counties “were a severe legal desert and there were not enough defense attorneys available to support their court-involved citizens.
Branch collaborated with the AOC and Grant from Bertie, Hertford, and Northampton counties, to determine what was needed to support this severe legal desert.
During their conversations, the idea of a public defender’s office was discussed and Branch and Grant started to do research to determine how the districts could qualify for one.
The judges spoke with Mary Pollard, director of Indigent Defense Services, in researching how to qualify for an office and collaborated with Hanig and Wray.
They sent emails and met with the local Defense Bar to get their input regarding an office.
The bar agreed that an office would be helpful for the area. Judge Branch asked Representative Michael Wray to advocate in this past legislative session for a Public Defender Office for Bertie, Halifax, Hertford, and Northampton counties. “As a result of tireless efforts of Representative Michael Wray, Senator Bobby Hanig, AOC officials and Mary Pollard, the public defender’s office for Bertie, Halifax, Hertford, and Northampton counties was approved in the legislative budget,” Branch said.
