Pictured here are: Wayne County
Executive Warren C. Evans
(seated left), Neighborhood
Defender Service Director Rick
Jones (seated right), Wayne
County Chair Alisha Bell
(standing left), Assistant Wayne
County Corporation Counsel Drew
D. Van de Grift (standing right)
Seen
here is
Wayne
County
Executive
Warren
C. Evans
as he
signs a
new
agreement
with
Neighborhood
Defender
Service
that
will
handle
approximately
4,000 to
5,000
adult
felony
cases
per
year.
Wayne
County
finalizes
contract
with
Neighborhood
Defender
Service
Goal is
holistic
approach
based on
national
best
practices
to
ensure
quality
legal
services
DETROIT
– Today,
Wayne
County
Executive
Warren
C. Evans
and Rick
Jones,
the
Executive
Director
of
Neighborhood
Defender
Service
(NDS)
signed a
contract
authorizing
NDS to
operate
a public
defender
office
in
Detroit
that
will
bolster
legal
representation
for the
county’s
most
vulnerable
residents.
Under
the
contract,
NDS will
handle
approximately
4,000 to
5,000
adult
felony
cases
per
year.
“Everyone
has a
right to
quality
representation
no
matter
their
financial
means,
it’s a
cornerstone
of our
democracy,”
said
Evans.
“We see
this as
a
critical
step to
ensuring
we have
a public
defender
office
based on
nationwide
best
practices
that
ensures
all
people
navigating
the
criminal
justice
system
receive
quality
representation.
We
wanted a
partner
who
could
provide
a
holistic
approach
with a
proven
track
record,
and
that’s
what NDS
brings
to Wayne
County.”
The
office
will be
funded
by
nearly
$8
million
provided
by a
larger
$17
million
state-funded
grant
from the
Michigan
Indigent
Defense
Commission
(MIDC).
The deal
was
signed
after
the
Wayne
County
Commission
approved
the
contract
on
Thursday,
June 6.
“This
will
double
the
number
of
attorneys
in the
public
defender
office,
but they
will be
handling
the same
amount
of
cases,”
said
James
Heath,
Corporation
Counsel
for
Wayne
County.
“This
translates
to more
time
training
and
services
for each
individual
case. It
will
also
enable
the same
attorney
to
appear
at all
critical
points
for the
client,
instead
of
attorneys
standing
in for
each
other
when
they
might
not be
as
familiar
with the
facts of
the
case.”
Under
Evans’
leadership,
Wayne
County
commissioned
the
Sixth
Amendment
Center
in 2017
to
examine
Wayne
County’s
public
defender
office.
The
report,
funded
by a
state
grant,
concluded
that
chronically
stagnant
state
funding
and
increased
caseloads
were
leading
to
deficiencies
in legal
services
that
could
jeopardize
the
right to
counsel.
With
additional
state
resources
available
via the
$17
million
MIDC
grant,
Wayne
County
issued a
request
for
proposals
in
September
of 2018
for
operation
of the
public
defender
office.
“Our
goal has
always
been the
best
possible
indigent
defense.
Unfortunately
as a
society
our
investment
has
fallen
well
short of
funding
that
goal,”
Evans
said. “I
applaud
the MIDC
and the
state
for
putting
more
resources
behind
this
effort
and look
forward
to what
NDS can
do to
ensure
our
criminal
justice
system
serves
everyone
fairly.”
NDS
Detroit
will
open its
doors
this
fall and
provide
holistic
criminal
defense
services
in 25%
of Wayne
County
Circuit
Court
cases.
It will
use an
award-winning
national
model
focused
on
providing
the best
possible
legal
representation
to
indigent
criminal
defendants.
For more
than 25
years,
NDS of
Harlem
has
provided
criminal,
civil
and
family
legal
services
to the
people
of Upper
Manhattan.
Its
model
incorporates
innovative
client-centered
defense
designed
to
improve
social
and
legal
outcomes
that
extend
beyond
the
courtroom.
In 2018,
NDS
received
the
“Defender
of
Justice
Award”
from the
National
Association
of
Public
Defense.
“The
people
of Wayne
County
have a
right to
quality
representation,
and we
are
honored
to bring
it to
them,”
said NDS
Executive
Director
Rick
Jones,
who was
born in
Wayne
County
and
spent
his
formative
years in
Detroit.
“We know
what it
means to
work in
communities
negatively
impacted
by mass
incarceration
and will
endeavor
to
provide
our
clients,
their
families
and
their
communities
with a
level of
service
that
keeps
them
safe and
intact.”
NDS
provides
a
holistic
public
defense.
Clients
benefit
from the
services
of
entire
teams
that can
confront
a myriad
of legal
issues,
in
addition
to
defense
of a
criminal
prosecution.
Teams
consist
of
lawyers,
social
workers,
advocates,
administrators,
and
investigators,
all of
whom
take
time to
understand
clients
as
people
and meet
their
legal
and
social
needs.
This
approach
allows
the
defense
to
extend
well
beyond
the
courtroom:
when
clients
face
consequences
with
employment,
schooling,
immigration
or in
family
or
housing
court,
NDS
works
alongside
them to
resolve
these
issues.
NDS
Detroit
will
seek to
partner
with
foundations
and
other
private
funding
sources
to
expand
beyond
criminal
defense
and
provide
these
holistic
services
in Wayne
County.
“Neighborhood
Defender
Service
is a
nationally
recognized
leader
in
providing
premier
representation
for
indigent
defendants,”
said
Wayne
County
Commission
Chair
Alisha
Bell.
“It is
critical
that the
indigent
population
receives
first-class
representation
and I am
confident
this
agreement
will
provide
exceptional
service
to
indigent
defendants
from all
of our
communities.”
The full
Sixth
Amendment
Center
report
on the
right to
counsel
in Wayne
County
is
available
online
at
http://sixthamendment.org/wayne-county-report/.