The Virginia Indigent Defense Commission (VIDC) provides legal defense to those accused of crimes unable to afford a private lawyer. VIDC operates 28 offices across the

Commonwealth of Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth are ...

. VIDC also manages the certification of public defenders and court-appointed attorneys throughout Virginia and provides training to defense attorneys. VIDC relies on a non-traditional "holistic" approach that also sees attorneys arranging social supports, addiction services and other assistance for those accused of crime, to reduce recidivism rates.

History

Public Defender Commission (1972–2004)

In 1972, the

Virginia General Assembly The Virginia General Assembly is the legislative body of the Commonwealth of Virginia, the oldest continuous law-making body in the Western Hemisphere, the first elected legislative assembly in the New World, and was established on July 30, 16 ...

piloted two Public Defender offices to determine if they would work better than appointing private attorneys to cases with indigent clients. The Staunton office was opened first, followed by the

Virginia Beach Virginia Beach is an independent city located on the southeastern coast of the Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. The population was 459,470 at the 2020 census. Although mostly suburban in character, it is the most populous city ...

office a few months later. The first chief public defender of the Staunton office, Coy M. Kiser, Jr. started the office with one investigator, a secretary, and two part-time assistant public defenders. Kiser was appointed to a judgeship two years later and was replaced by William E. Bobbitt, who served in the Staunton office for over thirty years.

Virginia Indigent Defense Commission (2004–present)

Following the

American Bar Association The American Bar Association (ABA) is a voluntary bar association of lawyers and law students, which is not specific to any jurisdiction in the United States. Founded in 1878, the ABA's most important stated activities are the setting of aca ...

's "scathing report on the state of indigent defense in Virginia", the VIDC was established by statute in 2004 and replaced the Public Defender Commission. The VIDC replaced court-appointed lawyers in death penalty cases with full-time public defenders. David Johnson was named Executive Director of the agency in 2005. In March 2021, Virginia banned

capital punishment Capital punishment, also known as the death penalty, is the state-sanctioned practice of deliberately killing a person as a punishment for an actual or supposed crime, usually following an authorized, rule-governed process to conclude that t ...

and VIDC announced that the capital defense offices located in

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

Norfolk Norfolk () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in East Anglia in England. It borders Lincolnshire to the north-west, Cambridgeshire to the west and south-west, and Suffolk to the south. Its northern and eastern boundaries are the No ...

, Roanoke, and

Richmond Richmond most often refers to: * Richmond, Virginia, the capital of Virginia, United States * Richmond, London, a part of London * Richmond, North Yorkshire, a town in England * Richmond, British Columbia, a city in Canada * Richmond, California, ...

would close. In September 2022, Maria Jankowski was promoted from Deputy Executive Director of VIDC to Executive Director after David Johnson retired. Timothy Coyne, the former Chief Public Defender for the Winchester and Front Royal offices, was named to replace Jankowski as Deputy Executive Director of the commission. In 2023 it was revealed that some of the offices were struggling with workload, with 30% fewer lawyers than expected and each one handling up to 200 cases. In 2020, several VIDC employees attended a protest in

Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port and city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. The city of Portsmouth has been a unitary authority since 1 April 1997 and is administered by Portsmouth City Council. Portsmouth is the most dens ...

and three were charged with felony vandalism of a Confederate monument, alongside state senator

Louise Lucas Lillie Louise Lucas ( Boone; born January 22, 1944) is an American politician serving as a Virginia state senator, representing the 18th District in the southeast of the state since 1992. Democrats won a majority of seats in the 2019 Virginia ...

, and three NAACP representatives. Judge Claire G. Cardwell dismissed the charges in November 2020. Cardwell determined that police went around prosecutors to file charges and attempted to prevent Morales from prosecuting the case by subpoenaing her as a witness. The three public defenders and eight others received settlement checks from the city for $15,000 each.

Locations

Alexandria Alexandria ( or ; ar, ٱلْإِسْكَنْدَرِيَّةُ ; grc-gre, Αλεξάνδρεια, Alexándria) is the second largest city in Egypt, and the largest city on the Mediterranean coast. Founded in by Alexander the Great, Alexandri ...

Arlington County Arlington County is a county in the Commonwealth of Virginia. The county is situated in Northern Virginia on the southwestern bank of the Potomac River directly across from the District of Columbia, of which it was once a part. The county ...

Bedford Bedford is a market town in Bedfordshire, England. At the 2011 Census, the population of the Bedford built-up area (including Biddenham and Kempston) was 106,940, making it the second-largest settlement in Bedfordshire, behind Luton, whilst ...

Charlottesville Charlottesville, colloquially known as C'ville, is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia. It is the county seat of Albemarle County, which surrounds the city, though the two are separate legal entities. It is named after Queen Ch ...

Chesapeake Chesapeake often refers to: *Chesapeake people, a Native American tribe also known as the Chesepian * The Chesapeake, a.k.a. Chesapeake Bay *Delmarva Peninsula, also known as the Chesapeake Peninsula Chesapeake may also refer to: Populated plac ...

Chesterfield Chesterfield may refer to: Places Canada * Rural Municipality of Chesterfield No. 261, Saskatchewan * Chesterfield Inlet, Nunavut United Kingdom * Chesterfield, Derbyshire, a market town in England ** Chesterfield (UK Parliament constitue ...

* Danville * Fairfax *

Franklin Franklin may refer to: People * Franklin (given name) * Franklin (surname) * Franklin (class), a member of a historical English social class Places Australia * Franklin, Tasmania, a township * Division of Franklin, federal electoral d ...

* Fredericksburg - serves Stafford, Spotsylvania, and King George counties *

Front Royal Front Royal is the only incorporated town in Warren County, Virginia, United States. The population was 15,011 at the 2020 census. It is the county seat of Warren County. History The entire Shenandoah Valley including the area to become ...

- serves Shenandoah,

Warren A warren is a network of wild rodent or lagomorph, typically rabbit burrows. Domestic warrens are artificial, enclosed establishment of animal husbandry dedicated to the raising of rabbits for meat and fur. The term evolved from the medieval A ...

, and

Page Page most commonly refers to: * Page (paper), one side of a leaf of paper, as in a book Page, PAGE, pages, or paging may also refer to: Roles * Page (assistance occupation), a professional occupation * Page (servant), traditionally a young m ...

counties * Halifax *

Hampton Hampton may refer to: Places Australia *Hampton bioregion, an IBRA biogeographic region in Western Australia *Hampton, New South Wales *Hampton, Queensland, a town in the Toowoomba Region * Hampton, Victoria Canada * Hampton, New Brunswick *Ha ...

* Leesburg - serves

Loudoun County Loudoun County () is in the northern part of the Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. In 2020, the census returned a population of 420,959, making it Virginia's third-most populous county. Loudoun County's seat is Leesburg. Loudoun C ...

* Lexington * Lynchburg * Martinsville *

Newport News Newport News () is an independent city in the U.S. state of Virginia. At the 2020 census, the population was 186,247. Located in the Hampton Roads region, it is the 5th most populous city in Virginia and 140th most populous city in the Uni ...

* Petersburg *

Prince William County Prince William County is located on the Potomac River in the U.S. state of Virginia. As of the 2020 census, the population sits at 482,204, making it Virginia's second-most populous county. Its county seat is the independent city of Manassas ...

* Pulaski *

* Roanoke * Staunton - serves Augusta and Rockbridge counties * Suffolk *

* Warrenton * Winchester - serves Frederick County and

Clarke County Clarke County may refer to: ;Places *One of five counties in the United States: **Clarke County, Alabama **Clarke County, Georgia **Clarke County, Iowa **Clarke County, Mississippi **Clarke County, Virginia Clarke County is a county in the Com ...

Notable employees and former employees

* Claire G. Cardwell, judge for the Thirteenth Circuit of Virginia * Coy M. Kiser, Jr. (1933-2012), first public defender in Virginia and judge in the General District Court of the 25th Judicial District of Virginia * Brenda Spry, judge for the Third Circuit of Virginia

References

{{Reflist Legal aid in the United States Government of Virginia Criminal defense organizations Public defense institutions