You may either represent yourself or hire an attorney to represent you in municipal court. For some serious offenses, you have the right to an attorney. If you cannot afford to hire an attorney to represent you for one of these offenses, you may apply for the Public Defender. You must fill out a financial questionairre, pay a $50 application fee, and have your application reviewed by the judge. He is the person who makes the assignment of the Public Defender or rejects your application. You may get an application from the Court Administrator's office, in court, or you may download a copy here. Note that the application has two pages, both of which must be completed before you submit it to the judge. You must also pay the application fee before the Public Defender is assigned to you.

Download, print, and complete both pages of the Public Defender application. Bring the completed application and the $50 fee to the Court Administrator's office before your case. Page 1   Page 2 These are Abobe Acrobat PDF files.

The County Bar Association's Lawyer Referral Service can be reached at 609-463-0313.