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Washington State Office of Public Defense |
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Welcome to Washington State OPD | |||||||||||||
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The mission of the Washington State Office of Public Defense (OPD) is “to implement the constitutional guarantee of counsel and to ensure the effective and efficient delivery of the indigent appellate services funded by the state.” RCW 2.70.005. Established by the Legislature in 1996, OPD is an independent agency of the judicial branch. The 2008 Legislature permanently reauthorized OPD, based on the recommendations of the Joint Legislative Audit and Review Committee (JLARC). (View full JLARC report - pdf document) OPD’s Advisory Committee includes members appointed by the Chief Justice of the Washington State Supreme Court, the Governor, the Court of Appeals, and the Washington State Bar Association, in addition to two Senators and two Representatives selected from each of the two largest caucuses by the President of the Senate and Speaker of the House of Representatives, respectively. OPD’s Director is appointed by the Washington State Supreme Court. OPD administers state funds appropriated for the Parents Representation Program for dependency cases, appellate indigent defense services and criminal trial indigent defense services.
All OPD services are provided by a fifteen person staff, consisting of the director, deputy director, social services manager, three Parents’ Representation Program managers, three Public Defense Services managers, an executive assistant, three administrative assistants, a financial analyst and a budget manager. |
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Copyright © 2005 Washington State Office of Public Defense. All rights reserved |
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