Michigan indigent defense commission outlines standards, grants and staffing needs

Kristen Staley, executive director of the Michigan Indigent Defense Commission (MIDC), told the House Appropriations Subcommittee that the agency has spent the past several years building statewide minimum standards for trial-level public defense and distributing grant funds to help local systems meet those standards.

Staley said the MIDC was created under the MIDC Act (Public Act 02/2013) to ensure Michigan meets the constitutional requirements established by Gideon v. Wainwright and related authority. She described the commission's core responsibilities as developing and overseeing minimum standards for public defense, administering grants to local trial-court funding units, monitoring grant spending and compliance, collecting program data and encouraging best practices.

The agency implements nine minimum standards based on American Bar Association national best practices, Staley said, including requirements for attorney education, client contact timelines, use of investigative and expert services, counsel presence at critical stages, independence of defense systems from the judiciary, workload (case-cap) limits and minimum compensation guidelines. Staley said the standards are intended to reduce geographic disparities in defense services and to limit attorney overload that undermines zealous advocacy.

MIDC funding comes primarily from the state general fund, Staley said, with local systems required by…