MISSOURI STATE PUBLIC DEFENDER SYSTEM
Director’s Office

Woodrail Centre
1000 West Nifong, Building 7, Suite 100
Columbia, Missouri 65203
Telephone: 573-526-5212 Fax: 573-777-9975

Official Statement – For Immediate Release

August 26, 2016(COLUMBIA, MO)

Public Defender Response to Judge’s Ruling Regarding Governor’s Appointment

We are disappointed, but not surprised. We have long been at the bottom nationwide in public defense funding. This will not come easy, but we will continue until equal justice becomes a reality in Missouri – when the poor and marginalized get a fair shot in our criminal justice system, and when we no longer make national headlines for all the wrong reasons: denying counsel to poor children; record incarceration rates; debtors’ prisons. The Missouri Public Defender’s Office will continue to fight so that the Bill of Rights is guaranteed to everyone.

For questions regarding this information, please contact:

Michael Barrett, Director
Missouri Public Defender System
Phone: 573-526-5212
Email: Michael.Barrett@mspd.mo.gov

Twitter: Follow at @MoDefender1