ReadyLink

In its criminal-defense function, the New Jersey Office of the Public Defender not only provides legal counsel at the Superior Court level in each of the state's 21 counties, but also handles appeals and other ancillary legal proceedings. The first centralized system of its kind in the United States, New Jersey's Office of the Public Defender has served for more than three decades as a model, and continues to be contacted today by states considering switching to a statewide system.

The office provides attorneys for indigent criminal defendants in both the adult and juvenile levels of Superior Court, as the result of expanded jurisdiction called for in late-1967. The attorneys are assigned to 22 regional Public Defender office. Essex County, because of its size and heavy caseloads, has separate offices for adult and juvenile representation.