Illinois legislators try again on statewide public defender legislation

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. — Illinois lawmakers plan to make a second push to create a statewide office to help under-resourced public defenders after a previous effort fizzled amid questions over whether the office would remain independent of the judiciary.

Senate President Don Harmon, a Democrat from Oak Park, filed the initial bill to create an Office of Public Defense Trial Support last month, but the two-page proposal provided scant details about how a statewide system would work. In addition, public defenders balked at whether the office could operate independently since the bill was an initiative of the Illinois Supreme Court.

Harmon pulled his bill and supporters went back to the drawing