Overview of Compensation for Trial Court Level Assigned Counsel in FY2026
Attorneys who practice indigent defense in Michigan are paid according to minimum thresholds outlined in the Michigan Indigent Defense Commission’s (MIDC) Standard 8. For full-time employees, the standard outlines guidance for minimum salaries. For attorneys working on an hourly/contract basis, the standard sets minimum hourly rates or equivalents. The standard also incorporates cost of living increases, meaning rates are typically adjusted every fiscal year. Following the submission of annual compliance plans, MIDC publishes a document summarizing the payment structure and rates for every local indigent defense funding unit in the state.
2026 Attorney Compensation Structure – All Funding Units (spreadsheet)
The document provides salary information for chief public defenders, deputy chief public defenders, and employee managed assigned counsel administrators, as well as a pay range for staff attorneys. Many factors shape the pay ranges across the state, including funding unit size, local economic conditions, and individual attorney experience levels.
- Chief defenders are paid an hourly equivalent of $49/hr to $109/hr, with the typical hourly equivalent being around $70/hr.
- Deputy chief defenders are paid an hourly equivalent of $43/hr to $93/hr, with the typical hourly equivalent being around $60/hr.
- Employee managed assigned counsel administrators are paid an hourly equivalent of $49/hr to $98/hr, with the typical hourly equivalent being around $57/hr.
- Staff attorneys are generally paid an hourly equivalent between $34/hr and $82/hr,
The document provides hourly rates for contracted manager assigned counsel administrators and attorneys paid hourly, as well as rates for on-call coverage, shift payments, and minimum contracts.
- Contracted managed assigned counsel administrators in most systems are paid $128/hr or $130/hr, but there are systems that pay as low as $100/hr and as high as $150/hr. Several systems opt to pay annual flat-rates to administrators.
- Hourly attorneys are typically paid approximately $130/hr for first appearances, shift work, and misdemeanors, approximately $145/hr for non-life felonies, and $155/hr to $160/hr for life offenses, but there is variation across systems, with some funding units paying $220/hr for life offenses.* Some systems also allow higher rates for attorneys who accept an assignment through the Special Assignment Team. MIDC minimum rates for FY26 are $127.24 for misdemeanors, $140.63 for non-life felonies, and $153.38 for life offenses.
- On-call payments vary, but typically offer the equivalent of half an hour or an hour of payment for being available (e.g., $65 on-call fee for a morning docket in addition to the hourly rate if the attorney is called in).
- Shift payments, utilized in some locations, typically establish a minimum payment for up to a certain number of hours that equals the payment the attorney would receive if they worked the maximum shift length (e.g., guaranteed $390 flat-fee for up to a 3 hour shift, $130/hr if the shift exceeds 3 hours).
- Some systems also provide guaranteed weekly or monthly minimums and compensate attorneys hourly if they work more hours than anticipated ($13,000 for up to 100 hours of first appearance coverage for the year, $130/hr beyond that).
- Some systems pay hourly for travel time under certain conditions (in addition to mileage), with most systems tying the rate to the hourly rate of the case. Other systems set a specific hourly rate for all travel.
*Unless otherwise noted, the direct hourly payment column in the document shows rates separated by forward slashes to delineate rates for misdemeanors and first appearance coverage/non-life felonies/life offenses. If four rates are listed, the rates are for misdemeanors and first appearance coverage/low-severity felonies/high-severity felonies/life offenses.
Prepared by Neil Weinberg, MIDC Research Analyst
November 2025