About Us

The Ashtabula County Public Defender’s Office is a division of Ashtabula County, Ohio.

The Sixth Amendment to the United States Constitution guarantees those charged with a jailable offense the right to counsel.

Our office is assigned to represent those charged with criminal offenses in Ashtabula County and who do not have the financial means to hire an attorney.

We handle cases in the Ashtabula County common pleas court, domestic relations court, juvenile court, Conneaut Municipal Court, Ashtabula Municipal Court, Eastern and Western County Court, Eleventh District Court of Appeals, and the Supreme Court of Ohio.

We represent clients accused of felony, misdemeanor, and serious traffic offenses (OVI and DUS) which carry a potential term of incarceration.  (prison or local jail time).

Although the rule of thumb is that we do not handle any cases that do not have jail time as a potential punishment, beginning January 2023, our office will provide Guardian Ad Litem services to the Ashtabula County Juvenile Court and to the Ashtabula County Probate Court in contested adoptions.