Welcome to the Law Offices of the Alternate Public Defender.
In 1988 the Board of Supervisors of San Diego County voted to create a department charged with the defense of those people charged with crimes who are financially unable to pay an attorney. That department is called the Public Defender. Since there are times when more than one person is charged with the commission of the same crime and it would be a conflict for the same Office to represent all defendants charged, the Board of Supervisors, in 1990, voted to create a second public defender office. It is called the Alternate Public Defender. It is responsible for handling the cases in which the Public Defender has declared a conflict.
In addition to representing criminal defendants, the Public Defender and the Alternate Public Defender also take cases in Juvenile Court. In Juvenile Dependency Court, the Alternate Public Defender represents parent's accused of neglecting or abusing their children. The Child Advocacy Division of the Public Defenders Office represents the children. (The parent in a dependency case may also face criminal charges stemming from the abuse alleged. If criminal charges are filed, Alternate Public Defender criminal attorneys usually will represent that parent in the criminal court proceedings.) Since the Alternate Public Defender can only represent one parent in each dependency case because of the potential for conflict among between parents, an attorney from a panel of private attorneys is appointed by the Court to represent the other parent.
At this time, the Alternate Public Defender has a Central Office downtown and four branch offices located in Vista, El Cajon, Kearny Mesa, and South Bay. Our lawyers assigned the Central Office and the offices in Vista, El Cajon and South Bay represent clients in the criminal courts who are charged with serious crimes. We also have Dependency lawyers at each of the branch locations. In Kearny Mesa, the Alternate Public Defender, Juvenile Division consists of both the Dependency Section and the Delinquency Section. In the Delinquency Section the Alternate Public Defender represents minors accused of committing crimes.
Again, welcome and thank you.
Timothy A. Chandler, Alternate Public Defender
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