Archive for category: News

As announced at the October 17, 2017 Commission meeting, Executive Director Jonathan Sacks has accepted a position as Director of the State Appellate Defender Office.  Mr. Sacks will leave the MIDC in January 2018.

The full posting for the MIDC Executive Director position is below.  Applications should be submitted through the State of Michigan’s website: https://www.governmentjobs.com/careers/michigan/jobs/1889600/director-midc

Position Available – Executive Director

Michigan Indigent Defense Commission

$92,000 – $133,000 or as set by the Commission

 The Michigan Indigent Defense Commission (MIDC) is looking for qualified applicants to serve as Executive Director. The position is appointed and supervised by the MIDC, and is responsible for developing and overseeing reforms to Michigan’s public defense system consistent with the Michigan indigent defense commission act (Public Act 93 of 2013).

ESSENTIAL DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES:

• Advocating for legislative appropriations required to fund implementation of standards adopted by the MIDC.
• Reviewing local compliance plans implementing the minimum standards adopted by the MIDC.
• Researching, developing and drafting new standards and requirements for the provision of indigent defense services in Michigan and presenting these to the MIDC for its approval.
• Hiring, supervising and directing the personnel of the MIDC.
• Providing leadership and direction toward the development and achievement of the MIDC’s philosophy, mission, and its immediate and long-term goals and objectives.
• Leading the MIDC’s effort to preserve, protect, and where appropriate, advance the right to counsel for indigent persons. Enabling the MIDC to identify and establish best practices for delivering the effective assistance of counsel.
• Developing and maintaining clear, frequent and effective communication with the MIDC, local court funding units, leadership of the executive, legislative, and judicial branches, bar associations, associations of lawyers that provide representation to indigent defendants, the media, indigent client population, and the public.
• Monitoring the use of funds and approving all expenditures. Preparing and presenting the annual budget for approval of the MIDC and submission to the Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs and the Michigan Legislature. Working with legislative committees and leadership to ensure that appropriation requests are procured by the MIDC.
• Development and implementation of procedures and policies necessary to effectuate Public Act 93 of 2013, including, but not limited to, each of the following:
• Collecting accurate data from local units of government and other sources. Summarizing the collected data and preparing reports for the MIDC, stakeholders, and the public.
• Implementing rules and procedures for indigent criminal defense systems to apply to the MIDC for grants to bring a system’s delivery of services into compliance with the minimum standards established by the MIDC.
• Annually reporting to the Governor, the legislature and the Michigan Supreme Court. Publishing policies, budget, indigent defense data, and other information for the public on the MIDC website.
• Evaluating local systems’ compliance with approved standards and recommending corrective actions if a system is not in compliance.
• Establishing procedures for the receipt and resolution of complaints and the implementation of recommendations from the courts, other participants in the criminal justice system, clients and members of the public.

EDUCATION AND EXPERIENCE:

A juris doctor degree from an ABA approved school is preferred. Applicants with an advanced degree or experience in public administration, court administration or related administrative field, plus management experience will be considered.

The ideal candidate should have significant experience in the representation of indigent clients, significant commitment to this priority, significant public sector leadership experience and be highly skilled in personnel management, public policy advocacy and budget development.  A demonstrated ability to inspire and lead people is essential.

All applicants must have competent knowledge of Michigan’s criminal justice system and its statutes and rules; the statutes creating the MIDC; and be comfortable working with individuals from a variety of organizations.  Preference given to applicants with knowledge of the issues surrounding indigent defense, Michigan’s system for providing public defense and experience with the legislative process in Michigan. 

WORK LOCATION

Lansing, Michigan with periodic travel throughout the state.

INSTRUCTIONS

            Applications must be submitted through the State of Michigan’s online hiring system. For details and to apply, please see https://www.governmentjobs.com/careers/michigan/jobs/1889600/director-midc

All applicants are required to submit a separate, detailed and concise narrative statement addressing each of the following items. These statements will be used to distinguish the best-qualified candidates for the position. Please discuss and explain the following:

1. Management and/or supervisory experience;
2. Criminal defense experience and knowledge of Michigan’s criminal system;
3. Knowledge of the State of Michigan’s appropriations process; and,
4. Commitment to quality, zealous legal representation to indigent people facing a loss of liberty.

SUBMISSION DEADLINE:           November 30, 2017

 

 

 

Governor Rick Snyder has appointed Jeffrey Collins of Detroit to the Michigan Indigent Defense Commission.  Collins will serve as a nominee of the Senate Majority Leader and replace Shela Motley.

“I thank Jeffrey for his commitment to ensuring all Michiganders have access to sufficient legal representation,” Snyder said.

Read the Governor’s press release here.

Read about all of the Commissioners on the MIDC’s website.

Governor Rick Snyder has reappointed Michael Puerner of Ada to the Michigan Indigent Defense Commission.

The commission was created as a result of efforts to improve legal representation for low-income criminal defendants. In October 2011, Snyder issued Executive Order 2011-12, establishing the initial Indigent Defense Advisory Commission, responsible for recommending improvements to the state’s legal system. These recommendations served as the basis for legislation to address this need, as well as called for the 15-member Indigent Defense Commission that the governor signed into law in July 2013.

“I thank Michael for his continued commitment to ensuring all Michiganders have access to legal representation,” Snyder said.

Puerner is the vice president, secretary, and general counsel of Hastings Mutual Insurance Company.  He is secretary of the Hastings Mutual Insurance Company Charitable Foundation and chair of the Insurance Alliance of Michigan.  Puerner holds a bachelor’s degree in American Studies from Northwestern University and a law degree from the University of Minnesota Law School. He will continue to serve as a nominee of the Senate Majority Leader.

Puerner will serve a four-year term expiring April 1, 2021.

Read the full press release here.

The Michigan Indigent Defense Commission met on June 20, 2017.  In addition to a full business agenda, the Commission received a report from staff regarding system reform efforts statewide.  The MIDC has published several documents to assist with compliance planning for the first four standards for indigent criminal defense systems which were approved by the Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs (LARA) this spring.  Those first four standards cover training and education of counsel, the initial client interview, use of investigation and experts, and counsel at first appearance and other critical stages.  Every court funding unit in Michigan is required to submit a plan for compliance with the first four standards for indigent defense, along with a cost analysis, to the MIDC no later than November 20, 2017.

The full text of the approved standards can be found on the MIDC’s website.  This link includes the first four standards as well as the next set of proposed minimum standards for indigent criminal defense services.  These next standards address the need for independence from the judiciary, defender workload limitations, and qualification and review of attorneys accepting assignments in adult criminal cases.  The MIDC is also finalizing a proposed standard on economic disincentives and incentives which will be published later this year for comment.  Systems are encouraged to look at the next standards when planning for compliance, and consider the feasibility of larger scale system reform.

Resources that are helpful for compliance planning include:

• A Guide for Submission of Compliance Plans, Cost Analyses, and Local Share Calculations, designed to answer questions from funding units to prepare documents to submit to the MIDC, available here.
• Answers to the most frequently asked questions from funding units, in a shorter handout form, available on the MIDC’s “helpful information” tab on the standards page.
• Regional Managers are on staff to provide direction and guidance to indigent defense delivery systems around the state on compliance with MIDC-enacted standards.  See the MIDC’s website for the managers assigned to a particular region on this map.
• Systems interested in large scale reform such as creating a public defender office or a managed assigned counsel system will want to review the MIDC’s guide, Delivery System Reform Models: Planning Improvements in Public Defense, available online on our resources page.
• Stakeholders should review white papers prepared for each of the first four standards describing background information as well as details for implementing each standard.
• A report detailing the progress in Huron County piloting a counsel at first appearance project is available on the MIDC’s website along with other reports from data collection.

The Commission has announced the availability of limited grant funds for local governments that fund trial courts to initiate projects that address best practices, improvements, or innovations to the local delivery of indigent defense services.  Grants will be awarded up to $80,000 for one year beginning October 1, 2017.  Separate from permanent compliance planning, these grants allow for local governments to pursue innovative projects to immediately improve indigent defense.  Read the announcement and all of the latest news on the MIDC’s website.

In 2016, the Michigan Indigent Defense Commission gathered basic information from attorneys on their experiences in indigent defense.  The responses that we received documented the prevalence of inadequate compensation in indigent defense systems across the state.  That report is now published on the MIDC’s website: Attorney Perspectives on Michigan’s Criminal Indigent Defense System: A Report of the Michigan Indigent Defense Commission (June 2017).

As a follow up, the MIDC is seeking more in-depth information about attorney compensation and costs.  ALL CRIMINAL DEFENSE ATTORNEYS are asked to take approximately 10 minutes to provide this valuable information to the MIDC no later than July 3, 2017.  These experiences will directly inform the development of the MIDC’s proposed Standard 8, Economic Disincentives or Incentives.  The MIDC is interested in perspectives even if attorneys do not currently take or never have taken court-appointed cases.  All responses are ANONYMOUS.  The survey can be accessed here.

he 2016 survey of defense attorneys also revealed concerns over the case assignment process and a lack of independence from the judiciary.  The concerns led the MIDC’s Research Unit to investigate the distribution of case assignments across circuit courts in Michigan to assess the prevalence of imbalance in the assignment process.  Eight circuits were selected for the study, which revealed that the majority of courts examined do not consistently appoint attorneys on a balanced rotational basis even when their assignment processes appear, on paper, to be independent and fair:  “In some instances, there are extreme differences between the top and bottom portion of attorneys accepting cases.”  That research brief is available on the MIDC’s website.

The MIDC will meet next on July 31, 2017 for a special additional meeting in advance of compliance plan deadlines.  The Commission meets at 1:00 p.m. in Lansing and all meetings are open to the public.  Information about upcoming meetings, or agendas and minutes from prior meetings can be found here.  We will continue to post progress about our work and any other developments about indigent defense in Michigan on our website as well.

Contact:

Marla McCowan

Director of Training, Outreach & Support