Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Ohio Public Defender urges funding and statutory changes, proposes Northwest regional hub pilot
Summary
Ohio Public Defender Elizabeth Miller told the Senate Finance Committee that Sub House Bill 96 must preserve operating funds and statutory changes to support indigent defense, a new Northwest Regional Hub pilot and adjustments to hourly reimbursement caps to help rural counties recruit attorneys.
Elizabeth Miller, state public defender and head of the Ohio Public Defender (OPD), asked the Senate Finance Committee to preserve several elements of Sub House Bill 96 that support the state's indigent-defense system.
"We're small but mighty," Miller said of the OPD's roughly 200 employees spread across five offices. She outlined five budget components the agency administers: the central operating budget, multi-county branch office funding for contracted counties, the county reimbursement budget that reimburses all 88 counties for a portion of indigent-defense costs, a pass-through to the Ohio Access to Justice Foundation, and a new pilot model: the Northwest Regional Hub.
Miller said the executive budget…
Already have an account? Log in
Subscribe to keep reading
Unlock the rest of this article — and every article on Citizen Portal.
- Unlimited articles
- AI-powered breakdowns of topics, speakers, decisions, and budgets
- Instant alerts when your location has a new meeting
- Follow topics and more locations
- 1,000 AI Insights / month, plus AI Chat
