About the Program
Created through an act of the Georgia legislature and opened in 2005, The Northeastern Judicial Circuit Public Defender Office provides lawyers for people charged with crimes who cannot afford to pay for legal representation.
The office, which covers Hall and Dawson Counties, is comprised of 18 attorneys and 16 support staff and is jointly funded by Hall County, Dawson County and the State of Georgia. Hall County’s office employs the majority of staff, with 15 attorneys and 13 support staffers.
In Hall County, the office represents indigent clients accused of felony offenses, under age youth in juvenile court delinquency cases, and felony probationers charged with violating probation. The Dawson County office represents indigent clients in felony and misdemeanor cases. In Hall County, the office opens an estimated 1,300 new felony cases and 1,400 probation cases annually.
Mission Statement
The mission of the Northeastern Judicial Circuit Public Defender is to ensure, independently of political considerations or private interests, that each client whose cause has been entrusted to a circuit public defender receives zealous, adequate, effective, timely, and ethical legal representation, consistent with the guarantees of the Constitution of the State of Georgia, the Constitution of the United States and the mandates of the Georgia Indigent Defense Act of 2003; to provide all such legal services in a cost efficient manner; and to conduct that representation in such a way that the criminal justice system operates effectively to achieve justice.