The Santa Cruz County Board of Supervisors approved a multidepartment fix to fill a $1.1 million funding gap for the public defender’s office Wednesday after a proposal to create an in-house alternate office was rejected.
Santa Cruz County Public Defender’s Office
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Santa Cruz County scrambles to close public defender funding gap after supervisors split on cost-cutting plan
In a tough budget year, Santa Cruz County is proposing to create an alternate public defender’s office to help reduce costs and maintain its holistic defense model, which connects clients with social workers and services. The move, however, would end a longstanding contract with a local law firm.
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New commission takes aim at California’s broken public defense system
California is one of just two states that provide no money for the basic defense of poor people accused of crimes; one legislator says the new commission’s goal is “to really build out the robust public defense infrastructure that Californians are rightfully entitled to.”
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Santa Cruz County public defenders join statewide protest demanding more funding, lighter workloads
The Santa Cruz County Office of the Public Defender is joining a statewide protest Thursday calling for dedicated state funding. Citing workload studies and funding disparities with other agencies, Chief Public Defender Heather Rogers said systemic changes are needed to prevent burnout.
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Q&A: Heather Rogers, the first public defender in Santa Cruz County history, doesn’t see cases, only people
“You know how when you find something that you love, it just feels like you don’t want to stop? That was how public defense was for me from the very beginning,” says Heather Rogers, a Santa Cruz native who steps into the role as public defender July 1.
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Heather Rogers sees natural fit as county’s first public defender: ‘I was immediately drawn to this work’
Heather Rogers, a Santa Cruz native who’s worked in public defense for over 17 years, has been selected as the county’s first official public defender. She comes from Biggam, Christensen & Minsloff, the law firm to which the county has outsourced its public defense work since 1975 and whose contract ends in June 2022.
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Santa Cruz County moves forward with creation of in-house public defender’s office by summer 2022
The county Board of Supervisors also signed off on adding a full-time public defender job to be funded in the next fiscal year, which runs July 1, 2021, through June 30, 2022. That means a lead public defender should be in place by fall to begin laying the groundwork for the in-house office.
