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Oakland County seeks $21.7 million from Michigan Indigent Defense Commission to fund public defense services
Summary
County Indigent Defense Services presented an FY2026 grant application to the finance committee requesting roughly $21.7 million from the Michigan Indigent Defense Commission; commissioners asked about juvenile representation, staffing, arraignments and long‑term outcomes before approving submission.
Pete Menna, manager of the Indigent Defense Services office, told the Finance Committee that Oakland County’s annual application to the Michigan Indigent Defense Commission (MIDC) effectively serves as the department’s budget because “we are almost completely state grant funded.”
Menna said the FY2026 application requests approximately $21,700,000 in MIDC grant funding and that Oakland County must contribute a local share “that always hovers around that 1,800,000.0 mark.” He described the county’s hybrid model of representation: an in‑house public defender’s office plus independent contractor attorneys paid hourly.
The department’s public defender,…
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