Tom Tomko News Today

The new facility has 24 offices, 12 work stations, two conference rooms and the training room. That compares to five offices, two work stations and one small conference room in the prior facility.

The funding will come at a good time because of a rise in juvenile petitions in the the county the past couple of years which Faulds attributed to youths suffering more mental health issues stemming from the heightened isolation during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Long-time attorney Joe Kosmala said the increase provides relief for attorneys and should improve the quality of representation of indigent defendants.

The Public Defender’s Office is wholly funded by the state and was created as part of a statewide effort to improve the legal representation of indigent defendants.