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County Leaders Direct Public Defender and MAC to Finalize 3'5-Year Plans to Expand Indigent Defense
Summary
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.
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.
Portia Brown outlined MAC operational improvements including a five-stage voucher-review process, expansion of attorney lists, and pilot plans to appoint MAC counsel earlier (at the jail processing center) to shorten time-to-representation. Commissioners asked for a comprehensive strategic plan covering staffing, capital needs, retention strategies and costs. The court unanimously directed PDO and MAC, in coordination with County Administration and OMB, to finalize 3'5-year plans (including capital-case considerations) and return to court by Aug. 1 with supporting budget requests and milestones.
Provenance: topicintro SEG 4286, topfinish SEG 4560
