Attorney Thomas J. Tomko, Macomb County’s new Public Defender, is putting the finishing touches on a team that will strive to “provide quality representation for indigent defendants.”
Seven months after taking on the job of creating the Macomb County Office of the Public Defender, Tomko this month was named the county’s new Public Defender.
“Tom has done an outstanding job getting the county’s Office of Public Defender up and running,” said Hackel. “In the midst of a pandemic, he was able to establish plans, hire staff and begin collaborating with local courts.
“His incredible work will ensure defendants receive legal counsel and representation when they can’t afford it. I am certain he will excel in this new position.”
Since its inception, the Macomb County charter has included a provision for an Office of Public Defender.
Over the past few years, the county, based on recommended standards and guidance from the Michigan Indigent Defense Commission (MIDC), has worked towards the goal of creating this office.
Now, seven months since its establishment, the office is ready to serve the public.
The office is different from other local county indigent defense programs which use contract agencies or a roster of attorneys to provide services, according to Tomko.
In Macomb County, the public defender is a county department that will offer direct legal counsel and representation to those who need it.
“We are establishing roots here with deliberate steps toward creating a lasting, impactful and high-quality indigent defense county office,” Tomko said. “I am proud to say Macomb County is striving to meet and exceed state indigent representation standards ahead of schedule.
“We are getting our talented team in place, which we will expand in the future so we can continue our work on behalf of indigent adult criminal defendants in Macomb County.”
The county public defender operation has three divisions: Administration, Felony Circuit Court Litigation and Misdemeanor District Court Litigation.
Administrative functions started in June and will continue to be transferred from the Judicial Aide Department over the next several weeks as additional staff join the office.
The Felony Circuit Court Litigation Division will represent a percentage of indigent adult defendants charged with felonies, many of which are capital charges.
The Misdemeanor District Court Litigation Division will represent a percentage of indigent adult defendants charged with misdemeanors in the 42-1 (Romeo) and 42-2 (New Baltimore) District Courts.
Two staff attorneys, Elisha Oakes and Adrian Cranford, will begin directly providing services to indigent defendants in the 42nd District Courts in late November.
There are no current plans for work in other non-Macomb County funded district courts, which may choose to continue separate operation of indigent defense systems in their courts, or seek efficiencies by collaborating with the public defender’s office.
A 1987 graduate of the University of Detroit School of Law, Tomko has been a practicing Michigan attorney for the past 32 years, licensed and a member of both the State Bar and the U.S. District Court.
He is a long-time member of the Macomb County Bar Association, and the Criminal Defense Association of Michigan.
Before being named Public Defender Administrator in March, Tomko had been in private practice as a sole practitioner for 25 years, representing criminal defendants in both retained and court appointed criminal cases.
Cranford, a 2002 graduate of Thomas Cooley Law School, practiced law in Connecticut, in part as a contract attorney for a criminal Indigent defense system, and now resides in Michigan.
He has been in private practice for the last eight years representing indigent defendants facing criminal matters.
Oakes, a 2013 graduate of Thomas Cooley Law School, has been in private practice for the past seven years representing indigent defendants facing capital charges.
She looks forward to helping juveniles as part of her goals in her new position.
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