SCCID Public Defenders
In South Carolina, the Public Defender System is a county based system. The Bar Association of each county organizes a non profit corporation known as a Defender Corporation, elects members to its board of directors, and establishes a public defender office to serve that county. The Board of Directors is responsible for selecting the Public Defender who serves either at the pleasure of the Board or enters into a contract with the Board for a specific amount of time. The Defender Corporations are independent of the State but receive funding from the State via the Office of Indigent Defense, and from the local county. In some cases, the Bar Associations of two or more counties have joined to create a Corporation which serves their multiple counties.
