Commissioners create advisory board to study idea of county public defender's office

The Lorain County commissioners and a county Common Pleas judge on Friday named four community members to a five-member board that will explore the idea of forming a countywide public defender's office. It's the next step in the proposed creation of an office of lawyers who will defend those who can't afford a defense attorney. The appointees are an "exploratory" or "advisory" body that will investigate and report back to county commissioners, Commissioner Jeff Riddell said Friday, clearing up some confusion that followed his panel's unanimous vote. "This is not a final commission," Riddell said, but a step forward in a project several months already in the making. County commissioners chose Amy Richards, an accountant and the elected Grafton Township fiscal officer, and attorney Richard Ramsey, Amherst's former city treasurer. Judge Chris Cook, presiding judge of Lorain County Common Pleas Court, then appointed attorney Zach Simonoff and Elyria Municipal Judge Gary Bennett. State law says county commissioners get three picks for a county public defender commission, the local common pleas presiding judge gets two and at least two of the five have to be attorneys. Commissioner David Moore said Friday he was hoping to pick a magistrate or judge to serve on the commission — until he was told that wasn't possible. Ohio law says: "No prosecuting attorney, city director of law or similar officer or their assistants and employees, and no judge or court employee shall serve on the state public defender commission, or any county or joint county public defender commission." That meant Cook couldn't choose Bennett — if it were the actual, final commission. Cook said Friday that he was given documents to choose members of a "board," not a "commission," to study the idea, "not the actual creation of a public defender commission." ("If I am wrong, then Judge Bennett cannot serve," he said.) Moore said commissioners will fix their error at an upcoming meeting where a fifth and final member of the advisory board will be chosen. Moore said hopes board members will have "open minds." The Sixth Amendment states that people accused of a crime have the right to an attorney, even if they can't afford one. Some Ohio counties have public defender offices to fulfill this constitutional requirement. In Lorain County, judges appoint private defense attorneys to represent indigent defendants who can't afford an attorney. It is the largest Ohio county without a dedicated public defender's office. The state reimburses Lorain County for indigent defense at a set rate. Supporters and critics of a countywide public defender's office agree that taxpayers do get most of that money back, but Moore said he believes a public defender's office will save money in the long run in a county already facing a budget crunch. Critics say that won't eliminate the need for court-appointed attorneys in cases where there is a conflict of interest or a need for specially trained attorneys such as in death penalty cases. Contact Dave O'Brien at (440) 329-7129 or dobrien@chroniclet.com.