Montana State Public Defender’s Division

The head office of the Montana State Public Defender's Division is located in Helena, MT. The head office develops and implements a regional strategic plan for the delivery of public defender services in the regional offices, establishes procedures for managing caseloads and assigning cases and other administrative duties. Their mission is to provide effective professional legal services with equal access to quality client-centered representation. The Office of the Public Defender (OPD) is responsible for providing representation in many situations for eligible people, including a person charged with a felony or charged with a misdemeanor for which there is a possibility of jail time, a youth who is charged with an offense and alleged to be delinquent or in need of intervention a person who is the subject of a petition for involuntary commitment for a mental illness, or for the appointment of a guardian or conservator, a parent, guardian or other people with physical or legal custody whose child has been removed by the State. If you wish to apply for representation, you must complete the application for Court-Appointed Counsel form, sign it, and return it to the regional public defender office or the Appellate Defender Division within ten days of appointment. The office will move to rescind the appointment if the required materials are not provided as requested. For further assistance, you should first contact the Montana State Public Defender's Division.