KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Wyandotte County District Attorney Mark Dupree penned a letter on Friday supporting a public defender's office in the county.
The letter came as the Kansas Board of Indigent Services (BIDS) will host an open forum on Saturday allowing the public to weigh in on the matter.
Dupree said that not having a public defender's officer is a "missing link for justice the framers of the constitution describe in the preamble an idea of creating a more perfect union."
Currently, judges in the county keep a list of attorneys, and they each have their own process for appointing them to cases.
Dupree said that in the U.S., everyone has a right to competent representation regardless of ethnicity, gender or socioeconomic status.
In Kansas, BIDS is responsible for providing public defender services and contracting attorneys.
"The citizens of Wyandotte County deserve access to the same resources provided to more affluent and less racially diverse counties," Dupree said. "A properly funded public defender’s office in Wyandotte County would not only address inequities, but would assure efficiency, oversight, and fiscal responsibility."
Following the forum on Saturday, the BIDS will vote on whether or not to recommend an office in the county in mid-February.
The forum will happen at the Kansas City, Kansas, Community College in the Upper Jewell Room from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m.
