In Los Angeles County, ask the court for a public defender at your arraignment. If you want a lawyer and cannot afford one, Penal Code section 987 requires the judge to appoint one. The office's main location is downtown, with branch offices tied to the courthouse hearing your case.
Where is the Los Angeles County Public Defender's office?
The office's administrative headquarters sits inside the Clara Shortridge Foltz Criminal Justice Center downtown, but most clients deal with a branch office at their own courthouse instead.
The Office of the Los Angeles County Public Defender lists its downtown address as 210 West Temple Street, 19th Floor, Los Angeles, CA 90012. Beyond that headquarters, the office runs a branch at nearly every Los Angeles Superior Court criminal courthouse; its own office locations map shows, for example, a Van Nuys branch at 14400 Erwin Street Mall, 10th Floor, Van Nuys, CA 91401, (818) 374-2350, and a San Fernando branch at 900 Third Street, Suite 2041, San Fernando, CA 91340, (818) 898-2440, each inside the courthouse building it serves. Which branch handles your case depends on where it is filed, not on where you live.
How do you ask the court for a public defender?
Tell the judge at your arraignment that you want a lawyer and cannot afford one; the court must then ask and, if you qualify, appoint counsel.
Penal Code section 987(a) states that "if the defendant appears for arraignment without counsel, the defendant shall be informed by the court that it is their right to have counsel before being arraigned, and shall be asked if they desire the assistance of counsel. If the defendant desires and is unable to employ counsel the court shall assign counsel to defend them." The Public Defender's own frequently asked questions page describes the same event from its side: "Assuming you qualify for our services, when you first appear in court, upon your request, you will be assigned a Public Defender who will meet with you to explain the charges, the legal process and to plan your defense." You do not have to wait for that hearing to talk to someone; the same FAQ says the best way to reach a Deputy Public Defender beforehand is to call the branch office at the courthouse where you are set to appear, and that it accepts a collect call from someone in custody.
Who is eligible, and how is that decided?
Eligibility turns on whether you can actually afford a lawyer, and the court, not the Public Defender's office, makes that call.
Penal Code section 987(c) lets the court require "a financial statement or other financial information under penalty of perjury" from you, or send you to a county officer who looks into your ability to hire counsel and reports back to the court; except for a narrow exception, that financial statement "shall be confidential and privileged and shall not be admissible in evidence in any criminal proceeding except the prosecution of an alleged offense of perjury based upon false material contained in the financial statement." The office represents people regardless of where they live or their citizenship status, as long as the charge is filed in a Los Angeles County court and they cannot afford a private attorney, including people facing extradition.
Does a public defender cost anything?
Representation itself is free at the time it is provided; an older rule letting a court bill you afterward is no longer current law.
Government Code section 27706(a) requires the office to "defend, without expense to the defendant, any person who is not financially able to employ counsel and who is charged with the commission of any contempt or offense triable in the superior courts at all stages of the proceedings, including the preliminary examination." The office's own FAQ still describes a post-conviction hearing on repaying appointed-counsel costs, but the Penal Code section it relies on, former section 987.8, no longer appears in the current Penal Code, and Penal Code section 1465.9(a) makes the unpaid balance of any cost imposed under that former section, as it read on June 30, 2021, "unenforceable and uncollectible," with any judgment imposing it to be vacated. In practice, Government Code section 27706(a)'s no-cost rule is the current law on what appointed representation costs a defendant here.
What if the Public Defender's office has a conflict?
A conflict, such as two people charged together in the same case, sends your case to a second county office, the Alternate Public Defender, before any private panel lawyer.
The Los Angeles County Alternate Public Defender, created by the County Board of Supervisors in 1993, is a separate office with its own management and attorneys for exactly this situation; the Public Defender's own FAQ explains that "if two defendants are charged with the same crime, we can only represent one of them," so the Alternate Public Defender's office is appointed for the other. If both the Public Defender and the Alternate Public Defender have a conflict with your case, the court appoints a private attorney from a panel list instead.
When is the first court date?
For a person held in custody, the first appearance must come within 48 hours of arrest, excluding Sundays and holidays; someone cited and released appears on the citation's date.
That limit comes from Penal Code 825, and it is a deadline to see a judge, not a deadline to file charges. At that first appearance the court asks whether you want a lawyer and, if you cannot afford one, appoints counsel, usually the Public Defender. The firm's Los Angeles County Jail Inmate Search guide covers finding someone in custody and release before that hearing.
Changing lawyers and hiring your own
A defendant unhappy with an appointed lawyer can ask the court to replace that lawyer, or can hire a private attorney at any point instead.
A request to replace a court-appointed lawyer is commonly called a Marsden motion, heard privately before the judge without the prosecution present; the firm's Marsden motion guide covers how the motion is raised and what happens after the judge rules. Appointed counsel costs nothing up front, while a private attorney is hired directly and sets their own availability; the statewide public defender versus private attorney answer compares the two paths in depth.
Talk to a lawyer about a Los Angeles County case
If you are weighing a private lawyer instead of a court appointment, talk to the Law Offices of David S. Chesley first. The firm offers a free, confidential consultation, available 24 hours a day, with payment plans and service in Spanish. Call (800) 755-5174 or request a free consultation online. The firm's Los Angeles County courthouse assignment guide and Los Angeles County Criminal Court Guide cover what happens around the arraignment where a public defender gets appointed.
Frequently asked questions
Will the Public Defender represent me if I live in another state or am not a US citizen?
Yes to both. The office's own FAQ says it represents anyone charged with an offense filed in a Los Angeles County court who cannot afford an attorney, regardless of the state where they live or their citizenship status.
Does every defendant get the same Public Defender office?
No. Which branch handles your case depends on the courthouse where it is filed, since the office runs separate branches tied to the county's courthouses rather than one central intake point.
What if I forget my next court date?
Call your Deputy Public Defender or the branch office handling your case; the office's FAQ says staff can usually tell you the date, and that coming to court as soon as you realize is the best way to avoid being arrested.
Do I need an interpreter, and does the office provide one?
The office's own FAQ says an interpreter is made available for interviews, consultations, and court proceedings in whichever language you need, and a number of its attorneys and staff are fluent in Spanish.
What happens if my assigned Public Defender does not show up for court?
A missing lawyer does not by itself mean you have no representation that day; see the firm's answer on what to do if your public defender does not show up for court for what actually happens next.
How do I contact my attorney after the first court date?
Call the Public Defender's branch office tied to your courthouse between 8:30 a.m. and 5 p.m. and give staff your attorney's name, your case number, or your name and date of birth, and they will connect you.