News File Photo Rick Steiger, new chief public defender in Alpena County — standing — defends a client in Alpena’s 26th Circuit Court in this July 2021 News archive photo.

ALPENA — Alpena County residents who can’t afford a lawyer have more of a fighting chance in court following the July 1 launch of the Northeast Michigan Defender Office.

Attorney Rick Steiger, as chief public defender, will head up a team of four attorneys dedicated to full-time indigent defense in Alpena and Montmorency counties, replacing the previous system of such cases assigned to lawyers also juggling private practice clients.

With the bulk of its expenses — including full-time, competitive attorney salaries — paid by the Michigan Indigent Defense Commission, the office will allow Alpena County to provide vigorous representation for its poorer residents, Steiger said.

“I foresee a lot of motions, a lot of briefs, and a lot of trials in the near future,” said Steiger, a former Presque Isle County prosecutor who served as one of several attorneys who shared the indigent defense load in Alpena recently.

Defendants can expect more time dedicated to their cases, more attorney interaction, and quicker contact after arrest as the defender office adheres to recently mandated state guidelines.

Historically, some defendants have expressed frustration with inability to access their court-appointed attorney outside of the courtroom. That won’t happen with the new defender office, Steiger promised.

Alpena County at one time was part of the Office of Public Advocacy, a multi-county office that, like the new defender office, hired attorneys to give full-time attention to indigent clients.

When the office stopped making financial sense, it was closed, Steiger said, and poor defendants had to rely on representation by attorneys juggling 50 to 60 cases at a time across multiple counties and paid only what the county could afford.

Now Steiger and a team of three other defenders — including Ron Bayot, Julie Miller, and one attorney yet to be hired — will focus their energies on fighting in court for people without the money to fight on their own.

The defender office won’t stop at the courtroom door, said Miller, chief deputy defender who until recently managed indigent defense programs in her role as court administrator and referee in Crawford County.

Involved in indigent defense since 2002, when she worked with the Office of Public Advocacy before leaving Alpena, Miller said defending the indigent — and protecting the community from repeat crimes — also includes connecting defendants with services to help them past barriers such as addiction, financial instability, lack of education and employment, and mental illness, connections the new office will facilitate.

The defender office, currently using office space on Chisholm Street, will soon relocate to one of several locations currently under consideration, all of which are accessible to potential clients, Steiger said.

As the office takes shape and defenders work through logistics such as employee benefits and grant applications, half of indigent cases will be assigned to the office while half continue to go to defense attorneys in private practice, according to Steiger.

A defender will meet with Montmorency County defendants at a site yet to be determined, Miller said.

Only days into its existence, the Northeast Michigan Defender Office is at the start of a new — and, Miller hopes, impactful — way of providing justice for all.

“Hopefully, it will just keep getting better and better,” Miller said.