Public defenders oppose Kent County’s plan to take over the office

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) — A major topic at the Kent County Board of Commissioners meeting Thursday was about a proposal for the county to take over running the Kent County Office of the Defender.

Many public defenders spoke, calling for the organization to remain as an independent nonprofit.

Most offices of the defender across the state are run directly by the counties themselves.

“Our aim is not only to rectify existing shortcoming but also to enhance the overall delivery of criminal defense services,” said Kent County Administrator Al Vanderberg about the proposal in a previous statement to News 8.

The director of nonprofit Kent County Office of the Defender said it’s important for the defender’s office to remain independent and that they are addressing the concerns raised in a third-party firm’s review of the office. That firm recommended the county make it’s own office.

“We didn’t receive the report until after they had come to our office to give us a decision that they wanted to go in another direction so the county didn’t want to give us an opportunity but these were issues we had self-identified and even before, even before the report was given, and even before the interview started that they did for the report and the research for the report was given, we were working to identify or to handle those issues,” said Christopher Dennie, director of the office of the public defender.

The county has contracted with the nonprofit to provide public defender services for 50 years. A spokesperson for the county said the plan is still being reviewed and nothing has been finalized.

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