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Friday, March 11, 2011
Ind. Courts - Applications being accepted for state public defender position
This release from Feb. 16, 2010 announced:
After serving as the Public Defender of Indiana for nearly 30 years, Susan K. Carpenter, is retiring. The Indiana Supreme Court appointed Ms. Carpenter to the position in 1981. Chief Justice Randall T. Shepard made the announcement of Ms. Carpenter’s retirement today and said, "As chief advocate for the rights of indigent defendants, Susan Carpenter has made Indiana a place of greater justice. She has been both zealous and elegant in one of the toughest jobs in government, and she makes me proud to be a lawyer."Ms. Carpenter succeeded Harriette Bailey Conn, who was appointed Public Defender on May 1, 1970, and served until her death in 1981.
This tradition of length of service exists despite the limits of the statute, IC 33-40-1-1(b), which provides: "The state public defender shall be appointed by the supreme court, to serve at the pleasure of the court, for a term of four (4) years."
Today the Supreme Court has announced that it is accepting applications for the position of State Public Defender. See the details here.
[More] Earlier history from p. 41 of the 2009-2010 Supreme Court Annual Report:
In 1945, the General Assembly created the Public Defender of Indiana to provide services to indigent inmates seeking collateral challenge of their convictions. The first Public Defender, Frank L. Greenwald, appointed (as is the case now) by the Indiana Supreme Court pursuant to statute, served from 1945 to 1947. His successor, James Cooper, held office from 1947 to 1956 and hired the first deputies public defender – one of whom was the Honorable Richard M. Givan, later Chief Justice of the Indiana Supreme Court. Robert Baker (1957 – 1966), Mel Thornburg (1966 – 1970), and Harriette Bailey Conn (1970 – 1981) complete the roster until the 1981 appointment of the current Public Defender of Indiana, Susan K. Carpenter.
Posted by Marcia Oddi on March 11, 2011 01:00 PM
Posted to Indiana Courts