Welcome to the Louisiana Office of the State Public Defender

Baton Rouge Landscape State Capitol

Protecting Constitutional Rights

Louisiana’s public defense system provides constitutionally required representation, protects public safety by preventing wrongful convictions, and safeguards due process and constitutional rights. The Office of the State Public Defender is the Louisiana state agency tasked with providing oversight and supervision to the 42 District Offices of the Public Defender and 7 contract programs who provide representation to indigent person’s accused of a crime throughout the state. Public defenders represent adult indigent defendants in all aspects of criminal representation except for parole. Public defenders also represent juveniles in delinquency matters and parents in Child in Need of Care (CINC) proceedings.

Additionally, the State Public Defender advocates for the creation of stable funding mechanisms that are not reliant on Conviction and User Fees for survival, as well as the re-alignment of the criminal justice system into a system that Louisiana can afford. De-emphasizing incarceration first models to address the state’s mental health and substance abuse crises and elimination of the death penalty will benefit not only the public defense system, but also the entire Louisiana citizenry in many profound ways.

Executive Staff

Locate an Office

Use the field below to locate an office in your parish or city.

View All District Offices

Louisiana’s Public Defense System by the Numbers

indigent defendants represented by a Public Defender in 2023

attorneys representing indigent defendants in 2023