Administrative support for the Colorado Public Defender’s System is provided by the State Office, located at 1300 Broadway in downtown Denver. This office manages all central business administrative functions needed for the efficient operation of the Regional and Appellate offices. Functions include:
The State Office is led by the State Public Defender, Megan Ring, who is appointed by the Public Defender Commission. The First Assistant, three Chief Deputies, and Division Directors also work out of the State Office, although many spend time regularly in the regional offices. Leadership and training positions are typically offered only for internal applicants.
Three training directors and other members of the Training Department team can be found at the State Office and on the road hosting regional trainings. Finance and payroll professionals, and the human resources team are all state office staff available to meet the needs of the agency and its defenders.
Legislative and policy experts, as well as specialized professionals, like the Office’s Immigration Specialist, DOC Liaison Team, and Restorative Justice Specialist work on topic areas important to our clients’ needs, helping answer questions for defenders across the state.
Many positions assigned to the state office can be accomplished from locations in other parts of the state and hosted by the closest regional office. Please check the job announcements carefully for location if you are not in the Denver area and would like to apply.
A new program hosted out of the State Office is the Discovery Clerk Project. With the proliferation of complex investigative techniques and the use of Body Worn Camera by police officers, public defenders receive increasing amounts of “discovery” (materials provided by the prosecution about the investigation of the case).
In 2022, the General Assembly approved fifteen “discovery clerk” positions to support trial offices in processing the voluminous discovery, making sure it is downloaded accurately and in a timely manner, deposited into the client’s file, and logged.
Discovery clerks largely work remotely and are managed by our Discovery Clerk Coordinator, Michelle Lucero. Open positions will be posted here and on government job posting websites.
