Defining Our Role in Public Defense
In recognition if its mandates under both the United States and Louisiana Constitutions, it is the express intent of the Louisiana Legislature through the Louisiana Public Defender Act of 2007, to provide effective legal representation to indigent persons unable to afford an attorney, consistent with the right to counsel in criminal and juvenile courts.
Goals of the Office of the State Public Defender
- Ensure that adequate public funding of the right to counsel is provided and managed in a cost-effective and fiscally responsible manner.
- Establish a flexible delivery system that is responsive to and respectful of jurisdictional variances and local community needs and interests.
- Ensure that the right to counsel is delivered by qualified and competent counsel in a manner that is fair and consistent throughout the state.
- Provide statewide oversight that ensures all indigent persons who are eligible to have appointed counsel at public expense receive effective assistance of counsel at each critical stage of the proceeding.
- Provide for the ability to collect and verify objective statistical data needed to assist state policymakers in making informed decisions.