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(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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