The Tulsa County Public Defender’s Office fights for the rights of people accused of crimes through vigorous, compassionate, and creative legal advocacy.
We practice a community resource model of defense so that we can support our clients inside and outside of the courtroom and ensure that we address their entire situation.Everyone in Tulsa County should have access to affordable and excellent legal representation.
Our values
Clients are at the center of our public defense work. We engage in relentless representation driven by our clients’ priorities. To accomplish this, we build trusting relationships with our clients through honest and open communication and effective legal counsel.
We understand and accept the experiences of our clients and work to ensure the dignity of our clients. We believe that all our clients should be protected from criminalization, incarceration, and other legal harms.
We foster a supportive environment where individuals and ideas are respected. Our entire office works together, along with our community partners, to achieve the best results for our clients.
Our office values diversity and strives to reflect the community we serve. This includes age, race, disability, gender identity, sexual orientation, religion, language, and involvement in the legal system.
We maintain the highest ethical and professional standards in every aspect of our work. We are dedicated to earning the trust of our clients, their families, and the community we serve through our honest commitment to our core values.
Success for us is defined by our clients, not by our attorneys.
Community Resource Model
We practice a community resource model of public defense that ensures that individual clients and their needs—legal and non-legal—are always core considerations.
The community resources we connect clients to are primarily mental health, housing, employment, and substance abuse.
Public defense is not limited to the courtroom. We do everything we can to put our clients in touch with the people and resources that are available.
We also follow up with any client who is on probation in order to answer any questions they might have about the legal process that they are going through and assist with connection to social services.
FEATURED RESOURCE
JusticeLink
JusticeLink is a one-stop community resource for individuals involved in the criminal legal system.
Through their team of Resource Navigators and Court Navigators, JusticeLink provides life-stabilizing services to help individuals navigate the court system and connect them to essential services such as housing, basic needs, benefits and transportation.
Court Navigators are housed within the Tulsa County Public Defender’s Office and attend court with Assistant Public Defenders. Clients are able to directly connect with a Court Navigator as they leave court. JusticeLink’s collaborative space allows direct access to multiple community providers who can provide substance abuse, mental health treatment and employment opportunities.
