Office of the State Public Defender

To promote justice throughout Wisconsin by providing high-quality and compassionate legal services, protecting individual rights, and advocating as a criminal justice partner for effective defender services and a fair and rational criminal justice system. The Office of the State Public Defender (SPD) is an independent state agency charged by Wisconsin Statutes Chapter 977 with providing legal representation to indigent clients in criminal and certain civil cases. Created in 1965 as an appellate program within the Wisconsin Supreme Court, the SPD was transferred to the executive branch in 1977 and its mandate expanded to provide trial court defense services.