The Office of Conflict Counsel was established in 1994 by the Board of Supervisors as the county’s 2nd public defender office in order to provide for some control over, and stability in, the costs for providing indigent defense services.
Services
Conflict Counsel currently provides indigent legal services to the courts in felony criminal cases and misdemeanor criminal cases. The office provides primary legal representation in 40% of these cases, and 1st level conflict representation in the remainder of these cases. First level conflicts arise in those cases where the Public Defender would ordinarily provide primary legal representation but is unable to do so because of a conflict of interest.