Applicants will complete an application form and will be required to provide documentation. You will be interviewed by court staff to determine eligibility. The judge will review application and make a ruling concerning appointment of an attorney.
Vernon Pitts is Circuit Public Defender for Fulton County. His office provides representation for indigent defendants to ensure that their constitutional rights are protected. The office budget totals $10,990,905 with 137 full-time county positions and 20 full-time state positions.
Those who cannot afford private legal representation and require a public defender must first apply in person through the Hall County Indigent Defense Office, located on the second floor of the Hall County Courthouse at 225 Green Street. Incarcerated defendants may apply while in jail.
$50To obtain a public defender, a defendant must apply to and be determined as qualified for such services by filling out an application. Public defenders are free, other than the $50 application fee.
44 different public defender officesAt present, there are 44 different public defender offices across Georgia.
DID YOU KNOW? The Capital Defender Clinic provides legal services for defendants who are facing the death penalty and cannot afford to retain a lawyer. Defendants who face the death penalty often can't afford to pay for an attorney, so they are assigned one.
Phone: 770-528-1950. Fax: 770-528-1949.
A public defender will be appointed if it is determined that you do not have the ability to retain your own lawyer. Eligibility is assumed for contempt, juvenile, and revocation cases. The public defender may decline services if you appear to have the ability to retain your own lawyer.
Contrary to popular belief, however, the representation is not free. At the close of the representation, the NJOPD is required by state statute to collect an extremely reasonable fee from a client.