10/15/2020- There’s an effort underway to establish a new Public Defenders Office in Menominee County. The County’s Board of Commissioners Tuesday approved a Michigan Indigent Defense Commission grant agreement which would have the state contributing more than $587000 toward a stand-alone non-profit Public Defenders Office versus the County’s current system of contracting with individual attorneys for indigent defense. County Administrator Jason Carviou says he believes that by contracting with this agency instead to provide these types of services, they’re likely to see better attorney retention.

Carviou says the County’s contribution for indigent defense will remain the same at around $116000. It’s expected to be about another 6 months before that Public Defenders Office is operational.