It provides legal assistance to individuals charged with a crime in state court who are financially unable to retain private counsel.
[1] The Alternate Public Defender (APD) and LACPD combined have over one thousand attorneys as well as support staff consisting of paralegals, investigators, social workers, and others.
[1] The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors appointed the first Public Defender in the United States, Walton J.
Judge Aggeler was an important figure in the early development of public defender's office.
Bruce Hoffman was appointed the first Alternate Public Defender and upon his retirement in 2002 was succeeded by his then Chief Deputy Janice Fukai.
[12] The Public Defender offices in Los Angeles County include: Los Angeles International Airport, in Alhambra, Bellflower, Burbank, Chatsworth, Clara Shortridge Foltz Criminal Justice Center, Compton, Downey, East Los Angeles, El Monte, Glendale, Inglewood, Lancaster, Lomita, Long Beach, Norwalk, Pasadena, Pomona, San Fernando, Santa Clarita, Torrance, Van Nuys, and West Covina.