The Louisiana Public Defender System is UNIFIED! And, headed in the right direction TOGETHER.
On November 20th and 21st, on invitation of Paul Fleming, President of the Public Defender Association of Louisiana (PDAL), on behalf of the entire organization, State Public Defender Rémy Starns, along with four executive staff members of Office of State Public Defender (OSPD), traveled to Lake Charles and participated in the 2025 PDAL Annual Meeting and CLE Seminar. This year’s meeting drew 150 registered attendees representing district and line Public Defenders from across Louisiana. Mr. Starns expressed his belief that this record crowd gathered in response to the new spirit of optimism and cooperation amongst all in the public defender system.
The two-day seminar proved to be an exceptional demonstration of unity between all public defenders and all OSPD staff after years of unnecessary rancor and division. During the Panel Discussion/Town Hall meeting and at the reception that followed, District Public Defenders presented Mr. Starns with a strong letter of support signed by every District Public Defender, a beautiful handmade plaque made by Districts 30/36 District Defender Tony Tillman, and a personalized #18 LSU football jersey. SPD Starns humbly and proudly accepted these “olive branch” honors given “in appreciation” of his efforts to “improve public defender services, increase funding, and pursue access to health insurance coverage” and expressed his heartfelt thanks to all of the PDAL members.
At the seminar, OSPD staff facilitated discussions on the Louisiana Appeals & Writ Service (LAWS) and hosted a Panel Discussion that included Mr. Starns, Commissioner of Insurance Tim Temple and State Senator Mike Reese. During the Town Hall meeting, the panel discussed potential legislation aimed at increasing public defense system funding and ensuring access to health insurance for all public defenders and support staff. Mr. Starns extended his personal thanks to Commissioner Temple and Senator Reese for attending and participating in the discussions as well as for all their efforts on behalf of the public defense system through years past and going forward.
The public defense system is the best it has ever been. We are building a system that provides the best legal representation for the over 146,000 people accused of crimes each year who need public defenders. TOGETHER.
