Commissioners establish public defender department and approve administrator and attorney contracts

Marshall County commissioners voted Dec. 15 to establish a dedicated Public Defender Department (Ordinance 2025-31) and approved contracting arrangements for an administrator and six public defenders.

The ordinance was adopted after commissioners noted no additional public comment and voted to suspend the rules and adopt the measure. County attorney (Unidentified Speaker 6) described a contracting approach that will centralize budgeting and administration under a public-defender board.

The board approved a contract for a public defender administrator, Mackenzie Brittenstein, at $2,500 a month effective Dec. 1 (retroactive authorization). Commissioners also approved six attorney contracts that align pay to state standards so that reimbursement eligibility is preserved: five contracts at a full-time-equivalent annual rate of $102,900 (monthly $8,575) and one contract (Mark Morrison) at 0.6 FTE ($61,740) plus a separate $30,000 annual contract to cover non-reimbursable children's-court work.

County attorney said the contracting model provides flexibility to assign attorneys across courts to balance workloads and meet state program standards. Commissioners approved the contracts and asked counsel to provide final signed copies for county records; the public-defender board and individual attorneys will execute the agreements.