CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — An oversight committee appointed local attorney Danice Obregon to head Nueces County’s first official public defense department next month.
Prior to Chief Public Defender Obregon’s appointment, Nueces County was one of the largest in the state to not have a public defender. In prior cases, judges assigned attorneys to aid in legal proceedings where people couldn’t afford representation or were mentally ill.
The new public defense office will start its work next February by handling 45 percent of the county's mental health caseload and hopes to eventually take on all those cases.
The Texas Indigent Defense Commission gave the county $7,000,000 to set up the office, including the hiring of investigators and social workers.
Chief Public Defender Obregon said that having these resources built into the department will greatly help provide higher quality legal help to people who otherwise wouldn’t have it.
"A private attorney doesn't have those kinds of resources in their office,” said Obregon of the hirings. “They can seek funding for that from a court where a case is required, but that's just another step they have to jump through."