County Leaders Direct Public Defender and MAC to Finalize 3'5-Year Plans to Expand Indigent Defense
After presentations from the Harris County Public Defender's Office and the Managed Assigned Counsel program, Commissioners directed both offices to return with finalized 3'5-year strategic plans by Aug. 1, including plans to add capital-case capacity and staffing aligned with budgets.
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The court received a detailed briefing from Genesis Draper, chief public defender, and Portia Brown, executive director of the Office of Managed Assigned Counsel (MAC), on progress scaling county-provided counsel. Draper described a post-bar fellowship pipeline that grew misdemeanor representation from about 20% to roughly 30% in recent months and outlined a three-year roadmap aimed at increasing the PDO's share of assigned cases and building capacity for future capital-case work.
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