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Oregon Supreme Court Chief Justice removes entire public defense commission

Oregon Supreme Court Chief Justice Martha L. Walters addresses the Oregon House of Representatives on Monday, Jan. 14, 2019, in Salem, Ore.
Bradley W. Parks
Oregon Supreme Court Chief Justice Martha L. Walters addresses the Oregon House of Representatives on Monday, Jan. 14, 2019, in Salem, Ore.

Oregon Supreme Court Chief Justice Martha Walters is set to remove all nine members of the Public Defense Services Commission by tomorrow.

In a letter Monday, Walters notified board members of her intent to remove them. Last week, the board voted 4-4, with one member gone, against removing Steve Singer, the executive director of the Office of Public Defense Services. Walters, who is a nonvoting member of the commission, spoke strongly in favor of removing Singer, calling him untrustworthy, needlessly combative and slow to address the state’s public defense crisis.

“Systemic change is necessary to fulfill that mission, and it is my responsibility to appoint a Commission that can effectively lead this change,” Walter wrote. “Unfortunately, it is now clear that it is time to reconstitute the current Commission.”

Members of the Public Defense Services Commission are appointed by the Chief Justice. Walters invited commission members to reapply by tomorrow if still interested in serving.

“I never anticipated exercising this authority, but this issue is too important, and the need for change is too urgent, to delay,” Walters wrote Monday.

Oregon’s public defense system is under severe strain. Hundreds of people accused of crimes are currently without constitutionally guaranteed attorneys to aid in their defense.

Less than a year ago, Singer was brought on as executive director of the public defense agency with a mandate to make big changes in an attempt to fix the system. Critics say he has not moved fast enough and is incredibly hard to work with.

“It’s not Mr. Singer’s vision or ideas that I’m critical of,” Per Ramfjord, the commission’s chair and a lead advocate for firing Singer, said Wednesday. “It is rather his conduct toward other people, which I think undermines the effectiveness of the agency and the ability to move forward.”

But the commission was evenly split on the question of firing Singer, who has many supporters among public defenders. Harney County public defender John Lamborn wrote to the commission ahead of last week’s hearing to say: “I don’t have to like Mr. Singer to say I think he knows what he’s doing.”

This is a breaking news story and will be updated.

Copyright 2022 Oregon Public Broadcasting. To see more, visit Oregon Public Broadcasting.