"Any person haled into court, who is too poor to hire a lawyer, cannot be assured a fair trial unless counsel is provided for him. This seems to us to be an obvious truth."

Gideon v. Wainwright

House Bill 86

This significant piece of criminal and juvenile justice reform legislation will become effective Sept. 30, 2011.

Public Defender News

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DNA evidence doesn’t match inmate serving time for murder

(The Columbus Dispatch © 4/24/2012)

New lab test results show that DNA recovered from a murder scene in Summit County didn’t come from an Akron man who has served 17 years of a life sentence for the crime.

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Fewer Ohio inmates being paroled

(Newark Advocate © 4/15/2012)

Ohio longest-serving prisoners are finding it increasingly difficult to get out on parole, an opportunity not even afforded most of those sent to prison since 1996.

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Ohio Supreme Court pares sex-offender law

(The Columbus Dispatch © 4/4/2012)

Automatically making juvenile sex offenders register with law-enforcement agencies for life and putting their names and photos on the Internet are cruel and unusual punishments, the Ohio Supreme Court ruled yesterday in another rebuke of the state’s sex-offender law.

›› More: News | Resources

Notice on Ohio Administrative Code Revisions

Chapter 120 of the Ohio Administrative Code was substantially revised, effective October 2009, and those revisions currently appear on the internet via Anderson's Lawriter website. However, the Ohio Public Defender has since identified the need for substantive revisions, so further administrative code changes are expected. In the interim, the Ohio Public Defender will not enforce the administrative code changes made during 2009, and users should continue complying with the previous version of Chapter 120 of the Ohio Administrative Code. Qualification forms and affidavits in use before October 2009 should continue to be used until further notice.

New Financial Disclosure/
Affidavit of Indigency form

On Feb. 1, 2012, OPD published a revised form OPD-206R. The new version must be used for appointments made on or after April 1, 2012. Please see the links below for additional information.

►	Memorandum regarding revisions
►	Financial Disclosure/Affidavit of Indigency form
►	Instructions for Completing form OPD-206R, the Financial Disclosure/Affidavit of Indigency form

CLE for Appointed Counsel

►	Memorandum regarding Indigent Criminal Defense Training Opportunities
►	Upcoming - Indigent Criminal Defense Training Seminars

Adam Walsh Act

►	Ohio Supreme Court declares SB 10 to be punishment, unconstitutional to apply retroactively

›› More: Updates

Book and Gavel Image

Death Row Updates

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Shifts detected in support for death penalty

The campaign to abolish the death penalty has been freshly invigorated this month in a series of actions that supporters say represents increasing evidence that America may be losing its taste for capital punishment.

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Ohio executes killer of teen

More than 26 years after he brutally murdered a Rootstown, Ohio, teenager, Mark Wayne Wiles paid the ultimate price today.

›› More: News | Updates