---
title: "What is a public defender?"
description: "A public defender is a lawyer the court gives you for free if you can not afford to hire your own. You have seen this on every cop show when the officer says \"if you can not afford an attorney one..."
url: https://www.chadbanklaw.com/faq-items/what-is-a-public-defender/
date: 2026-04-20
modified: 2026-06-04
author: "The Law Office of Chad F Bank"
type: avada_faq
lang: en
---

# What is a public defender?

A public defender is a lawyer the court gives you for free if you can not afford to hire your own. You have seen this on every cop show when the officer says "if you can not afford an attorney one will be provided for you." That lawyer is a public defender. They work for the state. They handle a huge number of cases at once. They only represent people the court says are too poor to pay for a private lawyer. You do not get to pick which public defender gets your case.