Archive for category: Publications

On June 1, 2016 the Michigan Supreme Court issued Administrative Order 2016-2 conditionally approving the first minimum standards for indigent defense delivery systems.

The full text of the conditionally approved standards can be found on the standards page of the MIDC’s website.

The full text of the Administrative Order describing the conditional approval and other language can also be found here.

The Michigan Indigent Defense Commission is pleased to offer a limited number of scholarships to attend the Gideon’s Promise Trainer Development Conference in Atlanta, Georgia.  The conference is designed to teach participants the Gideon’s Promise philosophy, model, and curriculum as well as skills and strategies for effectively teaching and mentoring public defenders working in under resourced systems.  In sending future trainers to this conference, the MIDC intends to implement the Gideon’s Promise model as a skills training program for new assigned counsel as one potential model for compliance with the proposed standard for the training and education of attorneys accepting appointments statewide.  Upon return, the scholarship recipients will be expected to serve as trainers in this skills training program.

The MIDC scholarship will cover the registration for this program as well as travel-related expenses to Atlanta for the conference.

If interested, please send a short paragraph addressing:

• Name;
• Geographical area covered and type of practice;
• Years of experience in criminal defense and % of practice devoted to criminal defense (appointed or retained cases);
• Ability to travel to Atlanta, Georgia and fully participate in the conference being held June 9-12, 2016; and
• Specific interest in serving as a trainer for new attorneys representing people who are poor and charged with crimes in Michigan.

The requested information should be sent to opportunities@michiganidc.gov no later than Friday April 29, 2016 at 5:00 p.m.

For more information about the Gideon’s Promise Trainer Development Conference, click here.

Read the MIDC’s first proposed standard on the education and training of assigned counsel here.

The Michigan Indigent Defense Commission met on Tuesday February 16, 2016 in Lansing at the MIDC Office located at 200 N. Washington Square, 3rd Floor. The attached minutes linked below are a draft and are not official. They are subject to approval at the next Commission meeting, to be held on April 19, 2016.

MIDC Draft Minutes 2-16-2016

At the February 2016 Commission meeting, the MIDC presented to the public its first annual report, the 2015 Impact Report, which describes the full year of activity by the MIDC and its staff, and describes how we are implementing change.