Committee forwards $750,000 grant to Public Defender for resentencing work and adds two grant‑funded positions

The Budget & Finance Committee voted to forward to the full Board an ordinance authorizing the Public Defender's Office to accept and expend $750,000 from the Board of State and Community Corrections to support resentencing work required by referenced penal code provisions and to add two grant‑funded positions (a court alternative specialist and a legal assistant) to support the pilot.

Danielle Harris, director of the Freedom Project within the Public Defender's Office, described the office's work to recall and reduce excessive sentences, aid reentry and secure benefits for released individuals. She said the Freedom Project has helped free 61 people in two years and that the state allocation will expand the project's capacity by hiring paralegals and reentry specialists to support people upon release.

There were no public callers; the committee recorded a roll call vote with three ayes and forwarded the ordinance to the full Board with a positive recommendation.