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Indigent Defense Services

Indigent Defense Services

The NC Public Defense System

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Working in Public Defense

Do you want to work in public defense?

North Carolina provides counsel to indigent persons through public defender offices; through attorneys who contract with the Office of Indigent Defense Services; and through judicial appointment of private assigned counsel.

If you are interested in working full time for a public defender office, or for one of the statewide defender offices such as the Office of the Appellate Defender, Capital Defender, or Juvenile Defender, search for indigent defense job openings here: 

https://www.governmentjobs.com/careers/northcarolina

If you are a private attorney interested in being appointed to indigent cases in non-capital cases at the trial level, check to see how the county where you want to practice assigns cases to determine whether it is a contract county or a roster county.

If you interested in handling cases in a roster county, check the Indigent Appointment Plan for that county for information on necessary qualifications and on how to apply for the lists.

If you are interested in handling cases in a contract county, contact one of our regional defenders.

If you are interested in handling capital cases, you will need to apply for the capital attorney roster.

If you are interested in handling appellate cases, you will need to apply for the appellate roster.

Note: This is a BETA version of our new website. Got feedback? Can't find something? Let us know.

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Contact Us

Indigent Defense Services
123 West Main Street, Suite 400
Durham, North Carolina 27701
Phone: (919) 354-7200
Fax: (919) 354-7201

Attorney Fee Application Inquiry Line:
(919) 890-2188

Setoff Debt Program Taxpayer Inquiry Line:
(919) 890-1655

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