Oregon leaders have agreed to grow a team of deployable public defense lawyers who take on demanding criminal trials, seeking to align with impending legislative requirements for the state to begin employing more of its own defense attorneys rather than hiring contractors.

The Oregon Public Defense Commission vowed in a press release last week to work with the governor’s office and the Legislature to expand the state’s trial division team, a group of more than 20 specialized attorneys who work across the state to take on particularly complex or urgent criminal defense cases. The agency, led by a 13-member panel, is tasked with upholding Oregonians’ constitutional right to defense counsel.

The plan comes after Gov. Tina Kotek approved the agency’s 14.8% budget increase , saying in

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