Chief Public Defender for Berrien County. 

Scott Sanford has been with the Public Defender’s Office since its inception in 2017. He was named the Chief in March of 2023. Currently, he supervises 27 attorneys in his office. He would like to have 33 attorneys, but it has been tough to hire a full quota. One of the reasons for that is a shortage of attorneys throughout Michigan. Another reason, particularly for his office, is that he can’t pay his attorneys an attractive salary.

The County Board sets the pay scale, and for some reason, the lawyers in the Prosecutor’s Office get paid more than they do in the Defender’s Office! Scott says this isn’t for economic reasons, it’s for policy reasons. The state would pay a higher salary, but the county doesn’t ask for it. “It’s just not a sustainable system,” says Scott.