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Annual Reports
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The Office of the Ohio Public Defender is the state agency responsible for providing legal representation and other services for those accused of crime but who cannot afford to hire their own attorney. The United States Constitution and the Ohio Constitution guarantee the right to an attorney. An attorney is needed to protect an individual’s rights and to present the evidence necessary for a fair and reliable determination of guilt or innocence. The quality of justice a person receives should not be determined by how much money a person has. The Office of the Ohio Public Defender is critical to the fairness of the criminal justice system.
Ohio’s public defender system was created in 1976 by Chapter 120 of the Ohio Revised Code.
Timothy Young is the Director of the Ohio Public Defender, which is overseen by a nine member board called the
Ohio Public Defender
Commission.
The primary focus of the Ohio Public Defender is on the
appeals and post-trial activities of criminal cases.
Approximately one half of the staff and resources of the Ohio Public Defender is devoted to
death penalty cases.
The Ohio Public Defender also offers representation at trial when requested by the courts, as well as parole and probation revocation hearings for the 45,000 adults and 2,000 juvenile inmates currently in prison in Ohio. Other services include technical services, educational programs, and assistance to court-appointed attorneys throughout the state.
The Office is divided into: Legal and Administration Divisions; The Trumbull County Branch Office; and The Multi-County Program.
The Office currently has 131 employees: 71 are in the legal division,
21 are in Administration, 30 are in the branch offices, and 9 are Commission members.
Annual
Reports
Organizational
Chart
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