Description:
Position Information:Advance your legal career and bring your passion for public service to the Public Defender's Office!
Starting salary negotiable up to $111.11/hour!
This extra-help (temporary) Deputy Public Defender position can be filled at the I, II, III, or IV level, depending on the candidate's qualifications. As attorneys gain experience and meet or exceed performance standards, they are eligible for promotion to subsequent levels in the series, up to level IV. If you are interested in being considered at the various levels of this opportunity, you must apply to the separate, concurrent recruitments being conducted for those levels.
Deputy Public Defender IV is the highest working level in the Public Defender class series, and as such is expected to defend the full range of misdemeanor cases, felony cases, or specialized legal assignments. The Deputy Public Defender IV works under minimal direction and is expected to use independent judgment in carrying out assignments.
The Public Defender's Office (https://sonomacounty.gov/justice-services/public-defender)
The Public Defender and their Office have the mandated responsibility of defending 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 or municipal courts. Additionally, the Public Defender represents qualified individuals in probate and welfare proceedings, and may represent any person who is not financially able to employ counsel in proceedings relating to the nature or conditions of detention prior to adjudication.
When you join the Office as an extra-help Deputy Public Defender IV, you will perform legal work involving the investigation, preparation, and presentation of criminal and civil cases before the courts. Using your independent judgment and initiative, you will work directly with clients and:
- Investigate, research, prepare, and defend criminal and/or civil cases
- Interpret and apply laws, court decisions, and other legal authorities for use in the preparation of cases, opinions, and briefs
- Prepare pleadings and other legal documents in connection with trials, hearings, and other legal proceedings
- Conduct general legal research
- Interview and advise witnesses regarding criminal complaints
- Four or more years of legal experience practicing criminal law as a licensed attorney, including two years of experience comparable to the level of Deputy Public Defender III or any combination of comparable training and experience
- Experience with conservatorship law, in additional to criminal law
- Experience handling writs and appeals
- Impeccable research and writing abilities
- Experience with post-conviction relief
- Demonstrable excellence in public speaking
- Experience in and/or with a Public Defender's Office
- Completion of any California Public Defender's Association training seminars
The County of Sonoma
Sonoma County offers a rare and compelling array of scenic, recreational, and geographic characteristics – including over 200 award-winning wineries, inspiring coastline and beaches, the Russian River, and majestic redwoods. The County encompasses over one million acres of land and water; rich with agriculture, parks, campsites, lakes, and open space. Sonoma County is also home to a wide variety of restaurants, art and music festivals, farmers' markets, and concert venues. Local schools continually rank high on California's Academic Performance Index, and the Santa Rosa Junior College and Sonoma State University offer higher education opportunities. Sonoma County is an increasingly diverse region and is home to approximately 500,000 residents. The Latino population has grown by almost 230% within the last 25 years and is approximately 27% of the population.
Please visit www.sonomacounty.ca.gov and www.sonomacountyconnections.org for additional information about Sonoma County - the place to live, work, and build your career legacy.
Extra Help Employment
Extra-help employees relieve or augment permanent staff. Temporary, extra-help employees are not in the classified civil service and do not have property rights to permanently allocated positions. In addition, they do not receive most employee benefits such as long-term disability insurance coverage; accrual of vacation; participation in the County retirement program; or eligibility to take promotional examinations. Temporary, extra-help employees are limited in their employment to a maximum of one calendar year. These employees must be off of work for three months before they can be re-employed on an extra help basis. Extra-help employees who meet the eligibility requirements may qualify for a County contribution toward medical coverage.
This recruitment is being conducted to fill an extra-help (temporary) Deputy Public Defender position in the Public Defender's Office at either the I, II, III, or IV level. The employment list established from this Deputy Public Defender IV recruitment may also be used to fill future extra-help positions as they occur during the active status of this list.
Application submissions require the Supplemental Questionnaire to be completed.
Minimum Qualifications:
Experience: Any combination of training and experience, which would provide the opportunity to acquire the knowledge and abilities listed. Normally, four years of legal experience practicing criminal law as a licensed attorney, including at least two years experience comparable to the level of a Deputy Public Defender III that includes one year of experience in the preparation and trial of felony cases; or equivalent experience with another defense agency, would provide such opportunity.
Professional License: Current active membership in the State Bar of California.
License: Possession of a valid driver's license at the appropriate level including special endorsements, as required by the State of California, may be required depending upon assignment to perform the essential job functions of the position.
Special qualifications: Attendance at California Public Defenders Association (CPDA) Homicide Seminar and California Attorney for Criminal Justice (CACJ)/CPDA Death Penalty Seminar is desirable. Completion of coursework, training or seminars related to the legal defense and understanding of sexually violent predator cases is desirable. Some assignments may require specific training such as the annual CPDA Juvenile Defense Seminar.
Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities:
Extensive knowledge of: the principles of criminal law, principles of trial procedure, and rules of evidence.
Thorough knowledge of: the duties, powers, limitations, and authorities of the office of the Public Defender; legal research methods and judicial procedures; statutory and constitutional laws of the State of California; written and oral communications, including language mechanics, syntax and English composition.
Ability to: research, analyze and apply legal principles, facts, evidence and precedents to legal problems; consistently prepare and present statements of law, fact and argument clearly, logically and persuasively in written and oral form in all legal matters; establish and maintain effective working relations with other staff members, departmental representatives, county officials, the courts, law enforcement agency officials, and the general public; understand and accept differences in human behavior, and cultural and ethnic backgrounds.
