SALEM, Ore. — A nonprofit public defense firm in Marion County is suing the Oregon agency in charge of indigent defense, alleging that the state’s new contract for the attorneys it oversees violates state law and constitutional requirements.
Public Defender of Marion County filed its lawsuit against the Oregon Public Defense Commission at the end of September, also filing a motion requesting a preliminary injunction in order to halt enforcement of the contract.
In April, Gov. Tina Kotek fired OPDC’s executive director. In her place, Kotek installed Ken Sanchagrin, then-executive director of the Oregon Criminal Justice Commission, with the clear expectation that Sanchagrin would come up with a plan to reduce — and eventually eliminate — Oregon’s backlog of unrepresented criminal defendants…