Appointment

• Appointment to the role of public defender must be completed by a particular state's Board of County Commissioners, according to the Lawrence County Government Center. The board may also be called the Commission or the Parish, depending on the state.
  
  

Disqualifications

• According to the Public Defender Act, as listed by the Office of Public Defender in Kingston, Wis., there are three major reasons a candidate for public defender will be immediately denied: being a member of the Senate or House of Representatives; having an undischarged bankruptcy on his record; or conviction of any offense involving dishonesty or moral turpitude.
  
  If circumstances arise during the public defender's term in office that would have disqualified him initially, he is expected to resign from office.
  
  

Employees of Public Defenders

• With the approval of the board, public defenders may hire any personnel that may help them successfully perform their job requirements. These individuals may include assistant public defenders, investigators and other employees deemed necessary by the public defender, according to the Lawrence County Government Center.
  
  

Authorized Clients

• A public defender is required by the Public Defender Act to represent a person who lacks the ability to pay for and hire a private attorney for court proceedings where the Constitution requires legal representation. Types of cases a public defender may be called in for include juvenile delinquency proceedings, critical pretrial identification proceedings, common-pleas court trials, Superior Court appeals, criminal extradition proceedings, and protection from abuse (PFA) contempt hearings, according to the Allegheny County, Pa., Office of the Public Defender.
  
  

Offenses

• Any person who willingly misleads, attempts to mislead or lies to the public defender or the Office of the Public Defender or fails to comply with any lawful requirement of the Public Defender Act will be guilty of an offense. Those who obstruct, hinder or resist the public defender or fail to comply with any lawful requirement without lawful justification or excuse are also guilty of offense. A third offense includes those who use documents, information or other items in a manner inconsistent with their duty to the public defender. Those who are found guilty of the aforementioned offenses will be held liable on summary conviction before a resident magistrate. The penalty will not exceed a $50,000 fine or 12 months in jail (the offender may receive both punishments, according to the Public Defender Act).