Regional public defense model proposed for Delta County
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ESCANABA -- A new regional public defense model serving Delta, Dickinson and Iron counties is coming to Delta County, bringing a dedicated local office and expanded legal services for residents.
Delta County will open a local public defense office staffed by three full-time attorneys and a full-time legal assistant, providing a consistent and stable defense team dedicated to serving the county.
Each county will maintain its own local office, attorneys and community presence. Existing assigned counsel will remain an important part of the system for conflict cases, overflow assignments and transition planning.
According to Attorney Daryl R. Waters, chief public defender for Iron County, the regional organization will provide centralized management, Michigan Indigent Defense Commission (MIDC) compliance, financial administration, attorney recruitment, supervision, investigator services, mitigation support and comprehensive public defense services extending beyond traditional criminal appointments.
In March, the Delta County Board approved a letter of support for the regionalization model. The support letter was then submitted to the MIDC as part of a fiscal year 2027 grant application, which was recently approved by the commission.
The regional model has an anticipated start date of Oct. 1.
"This approval reflects the MIDC’s confidence that regional collaboration can improve the quality of representation while reducing unnecessary administrative duplication and strengthening long-term sustainability," Waters wrote in a previous letter to the board.
On Tuesday, Waters described various challenges Delta County faces in indigent defense.
"It's very difficult to recruit just other attorneys, (saying) 'Hey, come to our area, take cases and open up your own office.' We haven't had any success doing that," Waters said Tuesday.
Delta County handles the largest indigent defense caseload in the proposed partnership, averaging over 1,000 cases charged annually, according to Waters.
"The current assigned counsel model is becoming increasingly difficult to sustain," Waters wrote in the letter. "Throughout the region, counties are relying more frequently on attorneys from outside our community and, often from Lower Michigan, to accept appointments. This increases costs, creates scheduling challenges and reduces continuity for the courts, clients and the community."
Shared recruiting efforts, modeled after successful regional initiatives in Marquette County, aim to help establish a sustainable pipeline for attracting and retaining talented attorneys committed to practicing in the Upper Peninsula.
In addition to dedicated local staffing, Delta County will benefit from shared investigator services, mitigation and case- management professionals, coordinated attorney recruitment, centralized training and experienced supervision.
"These are resources that have historically been difficult for rural counties to provide independently but have become increasingly important under modern public defense standards," Waters wrote.
According to Waters, Dickinson and Delta Counties will contribute only their statutorily required local share toward indigent defense services and will no longer need to maintain separate financial reporting and accounting systems related to public defense operations.
Waters also said the reality facing many rural counties is that the traditional assigned counsel model is becoming increasingly difficult to sustain.
Across the region, counties regularly seek attorneys from outside their communities, and sometimes from outside the Upper Peninsula entirely, to handle appointed cases, which Waters said increases costs, creates scheduling challenges, reduces continuity of representation and does nothing to build long-term local capacity.
Waters noted the timing of the regional collaboration is particularly significant.
The Michigan Legislature has recently passed Senate Bill 81, legislation that is expected to substantially expand the responsibilities associated with juvenile defense throughout Michigan.
These changes will require additional coordination, specialized representation and administrative oversight, Waters said.
The regional model aims to allow counties to meet these evolving responsibilities together by sharing resources, infrastructure and expertise rather than duplicating those efforts independently.
Waters concluded, "This initiative represents a collaborative regional solution to a regional challenge. It preserves local offices, strengthens services, reduces administrative burdens, enhances compliance, improves recruitment and retention and positions Iron, Dickinson and Delta Counties for long-term success in meeting their constitutional obligations while delivering high-quality public defense services to the residents they serve."
A final contract for the regional model will soon be presented to the individual county boards.
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Sophie Vogelmann can be reached at 906-786-2021 or svogelmann@dailypress.net.