Supporting Public Defense in the State of Louisiana
The Office of the State Public Defender now provides an appellate and writ service for the 42-district offices of the public defender.
Following the success of the Louisiana Writ Service, State Public Defender Rémy Starns has created the Louisiana Appeals & Writ Service (LAWS). The Office of the State Public Defender is now contracting directly with attorneys to handle both non-capital direct appeals and Louisiana Code of Civil Procedure Article 2201 supervisory writs. Housed within the Office of the State Public Defender and led by Deputy State Public Defender Michael A. Mitchell, the service will enable the system to provide access to additional high-quality representation with no gaps or reductions in services. This new structure for handling appeals mimics the structure utilized to handle Child in Need of Care (CINC) appeals.