Marshall County Public Defender Board approves contracts with public defenders in state program

The Marshall County Public Defender Board approved contracts with six local attorneys this week who will serve as public defenders across the county's four courts under a state program beginning January 1st.

The program, designed to improve public defense services, requires counties to standardize public defender compensation. Marshall County will pay full-time public defenders the state equivalent of $102,900 annually, or $8,575 monthly.

The five attorneys who will serve as full-time public defenders are: Alex Hoover, Chris Burdal, June Bules, Paul Stanko, and Adrian Arellano.

Attorney Mark Morrison will serve as a part-time public defender, dedicating 60% of his time to the role. He will receive $61,740 annually, or $5,145 monthly, for public defender cases. Morrison will also handle children's cases in Circuit Court is contracted for $30,000 annually, or $2,500 monthly, for the children's cases that are classified as non-reimbursable work under the state program.

All six attorneys currently serve as public defenders in Marshall County. However, under the previous system, individual courts contracted directly with the attorneys. The new state program centralizes oversight and standardizes compensation across all courts.

MacKenzie Breitenstein will serve as the part-time administrator of the Public Defender Department. Her responsibilities include coordinating between judges and courts to assign public defenders to defendants determined to be indigent and unable to afford private counsel.

Breitenstein will also track and maintain records required by the state for reimbursement purposes. Under the program, Marshall County can seek reimbursement of up to 40% on eligible cases heard in the courts.

The state program aims to improve the quality and consistency of public defense services while providing financial relief to participating counties through the reimbursement structure.