Clark County authorizes creation of a new public defenders office

Last week, the Clark County Council in Southwest Washington unanimously approved the creation of a new public defenders office to provide free legal counsel to criminal defendants who cannot afford hiring their own lawyers. Clark County is the largest county in Washington to rely on a contract model for public defense. As previously reported in The Columbian, the new office will initially consist of 10 positions, including six attorneys who will handle felony-level cases. The county will continue contracting with Vancouver Defenders to provide public defense for misdemeanor cases. Vancouver Defenders is also contracted to handle some of the felony cases heard in Clark County Superior Court. Amber Emery is the deputy county manager of Clark County, and Christie Emrich is a defense attorney and the owner of Vancouver Defenders. They join us to talk about this new office and the benefits they hope it provides for the county, public defenders and indigent clients in Clark County.