Northern Mariana Islands
The Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands funds and administers all indigent defense services. A government agency and the judiciary administer services. There is no commission providing oversight of services.
The territorially funded Office of the Public Defender (PDO) administers almost all adult and juvenile trial and appellate representation across the islands. PDO has one office in Saipan staffed by public defenders, which provides representation across the commonwealth’s populated islands (Saipan, Tinian, and Rota). If PDO has a conflict or is otherwise unavailable, judges appoint private attorneys from a list of all active licensed attorneys in the commonwealth, excluding certain government attorneys and former commonwealth justices and judges. The court must prioritize volunteer private attorneys and then appoint alphabetically from the list.
The governor appoints the OPD chief public defender. The commonwealth does not have a commission to oversee the public defender. The judiciary maintains the list of private attorneys, sets the hourly rate, and reviews and approves billing for private attorneys.
Dig Deeper
Does the Sixth Amendment right to counsel apply to the Northern Mariana Islands?
What are the required qualifications of the Office of the Public Defender chief public defender?
In which branch of government does the indigent defense system reside?
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Criminal justice issues that disproportionately harm poor people, such as wrongful convictions and over-incarceration, cannot be fixed if indigent defendants are given attorneys who do not have the time, resources, or qualifications, to be a constitutional check on government. Yet, investment in improving indigent defense services remains largely neglected. The Sixth Amendment Center is the only nonprofit organization in the country that exclusively examines, uncovers, and helps fix the root of the indigent defense crisis in which inequality is perpetuated because poor defendants do not get a fair fight.
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