The Board of Trustees for the Maryland Workplace of the Public Defender (OPD) is happy to announce that Natasha Dartigue will function the subsequent Public Defender for Maryland. Ms. Dartigue is at present the Performing District Public Defender for Baltimore Metropolis and has been with OPD since 1996.

“Ms. Dartigue has a mixture of spectacular {qualifications}, imaginative and prescient, and expertise, and the Board is worked up to have her lead this company,” mentioned T. Wray McCurdy, Chairman of OPD’s Board of Trustees. “She has proven management skill each contained in the courtroom and the better group.”

Throughout her tenure with OPD, Ms. Dartigue has represented purchasers in OPD’s Baltimore Metropolis workplace’s juvenile, district, and circuit courtroom divisions. She beforehand served as a felony trial supervisor and the Deputy District Public Defender for Baltimore Metropolis.

Earlier than becoming a member of OPD, she clerked within the Baltimore Metropolis Circuit Court docket for the late Decide Roger W. Brown. Ms. Dartigue is a graduate of the Howard College Faculty of Legislation. Legislation, the place she was a member of the Howard Legislation Journal and served as 3L Class Vice President. 

Ms. Dartigue is a first-generation American and the proud daughter of Haitian immigrants. She is a robust believer within the energy of group and serves as an advocate and chief all through Maryland. She is a member of the ‘Board of Governors for the Maryland State Bar Affiliation (MSBA), Previous President of the Monumental Metropolis Bar Affiliation, Previous Co-Chair of the Bench-Bar Committee of the Bar Affiliation of Baltimore Metropolis, board member of the Baltimore Bar Basis, member of the Alliance of Black Ladies Attorneys and an Govt Mentor for Innovation Works. For her accomplishments and public service, Ms. Dartigue has acquired varied recognitions and acknowledgments, together with service awards from the Maryland Workplace of the Public Defender, the Nationwide Affiliation of Public Protection and the Baltimore Metropolis Division of Recreation & Parks; the Authorities Lawyer of the Yr by the Bar Affiliation of Baltimore Metropolis, and the Management in Legislation Award and 2018 High 100 Ladies from the Day by day Document.

From Natasha Dartigue: “I’m honored to steer the Workplace of the Public Defender within the subsequent chapter of its historical past. Our core workers and attorneys embody the eagerness, dedication, experience, and endurance required to supply superior illustration for our purchasers. I’m dedicated to furthering these efforts as we proceed to navigate rising and longstanding challenges and acknowledge our successes. Collectively we are going to proceed to create significant prison justice reform!”

Ms. Dartigue’s six-year time period will start on July 1, 2022, upon the retirement of present Maryland Public Defender Paul B. DeWolfe.