LOS ANGELES COUNTY : Alternate Public Defender Office Is Established
An alternate public defender’s office was established Tuesday by Los Angeles County supervisors, who cited the need to cut legal costs of defending the poor. The new office will defend indigents when the existing public defender’s office cannot handle their cases.
The board’s vote, opposed by many private attorneys currently defending the poor at county expense, sets in motion a selection process for the $122,000-a-year head of the new office, which will start up in the fall.
The supervisors voted to implement the program in phases, starting with juvenile cases countywide and adult cases in downtown Los Angeles courts.
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