Wayne County's Committee on Government Operations approved a fiscal-year 2026 grant from the Michigan Indigent Defense Commission (MIDC) and a retroactive contract with Neighborhood Defender Service Inc. (NDS), county staff said.

Robin Dillard Russo, director of the county's Indigent Defense Services Department, told the committee the county's MIDC award was finalized after statewide adjustments to unexpended balances. "There is a reduction, 34,500,000.0," Russo said, adding that the county had earlier forecast roughly $54,000,000 for the program.

Russo said the county's contract with NDS followed an RFP in which NDS was the sole bidder. The county will move to a 50/50 split of cases between the public defender office and private-bar contractors; "we are moving to up the public defense office to a 50 50 split," Russo said. County staff said that change increases the public defense office's share of cases to about $18,700,000 within the $34,500,000 grant allocation.

Commissioners pressed staff about prior-year unexpended balances and whether the reduced award would cover the changed caseload split. Russo said the county has carried unexpended balances annually and cited an estimated $25 million to $27 million unexpended balance at the end of FY 202425. She described ongoing efforts to align spending with caseloads and said MIDC allows movement between budget categories and provides a mechanism for reimbursement if a system overspends.

The committee approved the grant and the retroactive NDS contract. No commissioner vote tallies tied to individual names were recorded in the transcript.

What comes next: staff said they will continue quarterly monitoring of spending and caseload allocations under the MIDC standards and provide follow-up details (board terms for NDS management and contract specifics) when available.