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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
September 4, 2007
Young named State Public Defender;
Bodiker retirement announced
(Columbus)– The Ohio
Public Defender Commission today announced the appointment of
Timothy Young as State Public Defender. Young’s selection
culminates a national search for a director to succeed David H.
Bodiker, who will retire from the post later this year.
“We appoint Tim to this position with a great deal of confidence
in his abilities,” said Samuel H. Porter, chairman of the Ohio
Public Defender Commission. “The Commission believes his past
experience and his expertise establish him as a most capable
individual to lead the Office of the Ohio Public Defender.”
Young, 41, has served as a Deputy Director of the Montgomery
County Public Defender’s Office since 2000, managing the
day-to-day operations of the office and supervising 41 lawyers
and 24 support staff. An employee of the Montgomery County
Public Defender’s Office for 13 years, he was previously a
Supervising Attorney from 1997–1999 and a Staff Attorney from
1994–1997. Young currently serves as a board member for the
Volunteer Lawyer Project and is a member of the Supreme Court of
Ohio’s Committee on the Appointment of Counsel for Indigent
Defendants in Capital Cases. Young earned his Juris Doctorate
from the University of Dayton School of Law, and a Bachelor of
Arts degree from the University of Dayton.
“I am honored to have been chosen by the Commission to be Ohio’s
next State Public Defender,” said Young. “I’ve devoted my legal
career to indigent defense, and I’m excited to have the
opportunity to lead the state system. Indigent criminal defense
isn’t an easy or popular issue, but it’s essential to our system
of justice. I’m looking forward to the challenges and rewards
that leading the office will bring, and to working with the
Commission, other state leaders, and the office staff to protect
every Ohioan’s constitutional rights.”
Announcing Bodiker’s retirement, Chairman Porter stated, “We
have been honored by David’s dedication and accomplishments. He
has been an exemplary lawyer and has led the Office of the Ohio
Public Defender through some very difficult times. We are
grateful for his leadership and commitment to equal justice.”
Bodiker was appointed Ohio Public Defender in 1994. Since then,
the office has weathered several state budget highs and lows,
and now operates with about one-third fewer employees, but the
quality of representation provided by the office has not waned.
During Bodiker’s tenure, twenty-five Death Row inmates have had
their sentences vacated or convictions reversed, and one Death
Row inmate received executive clemency.
Prior to becoming Ohio Public Defender, Bodiker’s career
included time in private practice, as well as serving, at
various times, as a Franklin County assistant prosecuting
attorney, minority counsel to the Special Committee to
Investigate Campaign Expenditures of the U.S. House of
Representatives, Director for the Special Project for Criminal
Code Training for the State of Ohio, staff assistant and legal
advisor to Congressman Samuel Devine, and City Solicitor of the
City of Bexley.
A date certain for the transition from Bodiker to Young has not
yet been determined, but will likely be around January 1, 2008.
Ohio’s public defender system was created in 1976 by Chapter 120
of the Ohio Revised Code. The Ohio Public Defender is overseen
by the nine-member Ohio Public Defender Commission. The primary
focus of the Office of the Ohio Public Defender is the appeals
and post-trial activities of criminal and juvenile delinquency
cases. The Ohio Public Defender also offers representation at
trial when requested by the courts, as well as at parole and
probation revocation hearings for the approximately 45,000 adult
and 2,000 juvenile inmates currently incarcerated in Ohio. Other
services include technical assistance, educational programs, and
assistance to court-appointed attorneys throughout the state.
The office is divided into Death Penalty, Legal, and
Administration Divisions, as well as the Trumbull County Branch
Office and the Multi-County Program.
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FOR MORE INFORMATION:
Amy Borror, Public Information Officer
Office of the Ohio Public Defender
614-644-1587
Email:
amy.borror@opd.ohio.gov
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