Public Defender’s office now open to serve those in the community

MARQUETTE — On Tuesday, the Marquette County Public Defender’s Office held an open house and ribbon cutting for the public to introduce their new office space.

The public defender’s office is a new service that was initiated in 2018 by the state of Michigan with a grant to provide legal representation for indigent criminal defendants in the county. The grant was from the Michigan Indigent Defense Commission.

After working on getting the office set up for a year, they are now open and ready to serve the public with four attorneys on staff.

“I think anytime you have a better system of justice for people, it’s a good thing. That means not only for the richest people in the county but also for the poorest; they deserve equal justice” said the Marquette County Board Chairman, Gerry Corkin.

The role of the defender’s office is to represent those who are unable to access attorney services in Marquette. A person that is charged with a crime in the county is able to provide their own attorney, or they can utilize an attorney for the Marquette County Public Defender’s office.

The office will represent residents of Marquette County in District and Circuit Court, with both misdemeanors and felonies.

Corkin believes that having a set public defender’s office will allow for better services overall in the county. Before having this service; attorneys in the area would rotate representing those who needed it.

The Marquette County Public Defender’s office is located at 228 West Washington Street, Suite 3 in Marquette. They are open Monday-Friday from 9:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m. For more information you can visit their website here or call (906) 226-4370.