Marquette County to receive new public defender office

MARQUETTE COUNTY — Marquette County will be receiving a new public defender’s office in the next month.

For the time being, a handful of attorneys have been on a rotating schedule to represent those who can’t always afford the high costs. The new public defender, Patrick Crowley, and his office, will be handling those cases, except in situations of conflict of interest.

“Not everyone is in a position to financially support hiring an attorney,” said County Administrator, Scott Erbisch. “The way that our laws are is that everyone is afforded to have some representation at trial and or in the courts, so that’s an important role that the public defender’s office plays.”

Crowley graduated from NMU, and has been practicing law for over 15 years. He and his five member staff will be located on Washington Street, and will begin their work on February 4th.