Today, Hunter revisited Public Defense in the state of Missouri with a conversation with Mary Fox. Mary is the Director of the Missouri State Public Defender system, and this conversation picks up where Hunter's conversation with ACLU attorney, Anthony Rothert left off.

Back in March, Hunter and Anthony discussed the history of Public Defense in Missouri and why the ACLU brought sued the state for its failure to provide counsel to all who could not afford it. While Hunter highly recommends checking out that episode, it stopped short of talking about the ways in which the Missouri Public Defender's responded to the lawsuits. That's where Mary steps in.

Since the second lawsuit was filed, Mary and the Public Defenders of Missouri have fought and won several key victories for more funding and more staffing. The doom and gloom of the previous episode is no where to be found, as Mary highlights the hope that now fills Missouri Public Defender System!

Guests:

Mary Fox, Director, Missouri State Public Defender

Key Topics and Takeaways:

Mary's Background and journey to being the Director [7:13]

What Mary walked into when she took over in 2020 [13:47]

How Mary was able to win the fight [16:00]

Maintaing the Momentum in Missouri [22:00]

Recruiting new attorneys to come to Missouri [24:45]

How the Death Penalty works in Missouri [29:45]

Tackling the issues around Sexual Violent Offenders [37:59]

Indigency Determination in the State of Missouri [41:50]

Concerns around Municipal Courts in Missouri [49:10]

Fees paid to Contract Attorneys in Missouri [55:20]

Mary's goals for public defense in the future [1:00:28]

Resources:

Missouri Public Defender

2021 Missouri Public Defender Annual Report

Missouri lawmakers recognized for legislation supporting court automation, public defenders

The ACLU of Missouri applauds the Missouri Legislature for its work in allocating $3.6 million in funding to the Missouri Public Defender System in this year's budget.

Messenger: New fellowship could ease public defender shortage in rural Missouri

Missouri public defenders set to hire 53 attorneys with extra funds in state budget

NO MORE WAITING LIST FOR MISSOURI PUBLIC DEFENDER SYSTEM SERVICES

With fresh state funding, understaffed public defender system looks to hire

Contact Hunter Parnell:

[email protected]

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