MIDC Launches Website
June 1, 2015
Media Release
The Michigan Indigent Defense Commission is pleased to announce the launch of their website, found at www.michiganidc.gov.
The Michigan Indigent Defense Commission (MIDC) was created by legislation in 2013 after an advisory commission recommended improvements to the state’s legal system. The MIDC will work to ensure the state’s public defense system is fair, cost-effective and constitutional while simultaneously protecting public safety and accountability. Governor Snyder made appointments to the 15-member commission in the summer of 2014, and the office just opened this February.
The Act also requires that the MIDC publish its policies on its website, along with annual reports and its budget and expenditures. See MCL §780.989(h)(6) and §780.999 for more details. The MIDC presents the content on its website as part of these statutory requirements and to provide other relevant information to Internet users.
Executive Director Jonathan Sacks says that the MIDC is excited to begin meeting all of the mandates of the Act, adding:
“Our website is an important start to informing the criminal justice community and poor people charged with crimes about the steps we are taking to improve representation and to help ensure Michigan meets its constitutional obligations.”
In addition to the statutory requirements, the MIDC will post on its website news and noteworthy issues, information about meetings and upcoming events, and links to helpful resources. The site will also be used to post proposed minimum standards for indigent defense, dates of public hearings, compliance models and plans and the process for seeking grant funding after a plan is approved.
The MIDC’s logo and website were designed by the extraordinary team at Elefant Design/Strategy. Find out more about Elefant at www.elefant.design.
For questions, suggestions or concerns about the website contents, contact Marla McCowan, MIDC Director of Training, Outreach and Support, at mmccowan@michiganidc.gov or (517) 388-6702.