Job Description

Posting number: 2026-001

Department: County Public Defender's Office

Job classification: County Public Defender

Posting type: Open

Categories: Legal

Summary

COUNTY PUBLIC DEFENDER

ANNUAL SALARY: $142,771 - $200,893 DOE

Del Norte County is seeking an experienced criminal defense attorney to serve as the County's first Public Defender,

a Board appointed position responsible for overseeing and developing the County's indigent defense program.

APPLY by July 24, 2026 at 11:59 p.m. PST

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The County Public Defender plans, organizes and directs the functions of the Office of the Public Defender. Pursuant to Government Code Section 27706, the Public Defender is responsible for providing necessary and appropriate constitutional defense services to qualified legal indigents. The incumbent must be effective in managing departmental personnel and other resources, including contracts with contracted public defenders, to meet the caseload demands placed upon the office, while at the same time, producing the quality of service necessary to properly represent clients assigned to the Office of the Public Defender.

Pursuant to Title 2, Chapter 20, Section 20 of the Del Norte County Code, the County Public Defender shall be appointed by and serve at the pleasure of the Del Norte County Board of Supervisors.

Examples of duties

Essential job duties may include any of the following tasks, knowledge, skills and other characteristics. The list that follows is not intended as a comprehensive list; it is intended to provide a representative summary of the major duties and responsibilities. Incumbent(s) may not be required to perform all duties listed, and may be required to perform additional, position-specific tasks.

• Administers and directs a program of legal counseling and representation for persons accused of violations of criminal law, juveniles brought before the juvenile court, and persons undergoing involuntary commitment proceedings for mental illness, drug addiction, or alcoholism.
• Responsible for the creation of the standards, policies, training, procedures and data collection for the Public Defender’s Office.
• Monitors and manages the performance of contracted public defenders.
• Assists in the hiring and evaluating of professional and support staff.
• Plans, organizes, directs and manages staff and contracted public defenders engaged in providing legal defense services to the public in accordance with policies, procedures and applicable laws including: interviewing, hiring, training, mentoring; assigning and directing work; providing information, feedback, or assistance; appraising performance, disciplining employees; addressing complaints and resolving problems.
• Appears in court as defense counsel as necessary, representing indigent clients in all phases of the proceedings.
• Supervises contract attorneys who will take appropriate steps to provide effective legal defense services in criminal and juvenile delinquency court, including advising on proper pleas, investigation, research, motions, pretrial hearings, preliminary hearings, negotiations, trials and sentencing.
• Directs the preparation and administration of the office’s annual budget.
• Seeks and oversees the application for grants and other state or federal aid that may become available.
• Makes annual, and as necessary, presentations to the Board of Supervisors.
• Acts as the primary representative of the Public Defender's Office in contacts with the public, community organizations, law enforcement agencies, criminal justice partnerships, and other government jurisdictions.
• Serves as liaison with judges and other representatives of the Court, the County's District Attorney Office, Probation Department, and other County departments, and law enforcement agencies.
• Confers with defense and prosecution attorneys, probation authorities, investigators, court officials, mental health professionals, agencies providing services to clients, and law enforcement agencies to discuss diversion programs, alternatives to traditional models of prosecution and other cross-departmental collaborative projects to improve community safety.
• Performs other related duties as assigned.

Qualifications

Any combination of education, training and experience which would likely provide the required knowledge, skills and abilities may be considered qualifying. A typical way to obtain the required knowledge and abilities would be:

Education: Bachelor’s degree from an accredited four-year college or university and a Juris Doctorate from an accredited school of law.

Experience: Seven (7) years of experience as a practicing attorney with a focus on criminal defense, including four (4) years performing managerial level supervisory and administrative duties over attorneys providing legal counsel and indigent defense services in a Public Defender Office or comparable legal office.

Special Requirements:

• Must possess and maintain a valid Driver’s license.
• Pursuant to Government Code Section 27701, must have been a practicing attorney in all of the courts of the State of California for at least the year preceding the date of appointment.
• Current membership in the California State Bar Association.
• All County of Del Norte employees are designated Disaster Service Workers through State law (California Government Code Section 3100-3109). Employment with the County of Del Norte requires the affirmation of a loyalty oath to this effect. Employees are required to complete all Disaster Service Work related training as assigned, and to return to work as ordered in the event of an emergency.

Supplemental information

Job Requirements:

Knowledge of:

• Practice of indigent defense and criminal law.
• Legal research and writing.
• Motions and Trial practice.
• Ethical duties of indigent defense counsel.
• Effective supervision techniques.
• Labor law as it relates to personnel.
• Budget effectiveness and efficiency.
• Modern case management applications or systems.

Ability to:

• Defend criminal cases.
• Plan, organize and supervise assigned programs and staff.
• Develop, write, implement and interpret policies and procedures.
• Analyze situations and adopt an effective course of action, often in stressful situations.
• Communicate clearly with community stakeholders.
• Counsel and advise other attorneys.
• Establish and maintain cooperative relationships with court officials, staff, clients, community groups and the general public.
• Work weekends, holidays and irregular hours as needed.