Missouri State Public Defender

10/21/2026

Congratulations to the National Association for Public Defense (NAPD) FY2026 Board Executive Officers, including Board Secretary Greg Mermelstein; Greg is Deputy Director & General Counsel here at Missouri State Public Defender.

Welcoming our new FY2026 NAPD Board Executive Officers!! A huge congratulations and thank you for your service to our public defense community to our new officers:

🎉 La Mer Kyle - Board President
Training Division Chief, Los Angeles Public Defender's Office

🎉 Dawne Mitchell - 1st Vice President
Chief Attorney, The Legal Aid Society

🎉 Keisha Hudson - 2nd Vice President
Chief Defender, Defender Association of Philadelphia, PA

🎉 Cheryl Hughes-Redd - 3rd Vice President
Digital Forensics Analyst Manager, Maryland Office of the Public Defender

🎉 Greg Mermelstein - Board Secretary
Deputy Director/General Counsel/Records Custodian, Missouri State Public Defender

🎉 Basima Hafiz - Board Treasurer
Managing Director, New York County Defender Services

🎉 Anthony Benedetti - Immediate Past President
Chief Counsel, Committee for Public Counsel Services, Boston, MA

Please leave your well-wishes and congrats to our new board officers in the comments! And tag anyone who's not been tagged already :)

To read more about our Board Executive Officers and other members of the NAPD Board and Staff team, check out our leadership page at: https://hubs.li/Q04BDyqQ0

10/06/2026

We're hiring for the role of Attorney - St. Louis Children's Defense Team!

As a Children's Defense Team Attorney at MSPD, you will be a crucial advocate for our children clients, ensuring they receive high-quality, zealous legal representation. You will represent clients in their juvenile and criminal matters in the St. Louis region. This role involves establishing professional relationships with clients, advising and counseling clients, conducting thorough case investigations, and representing our children clients in court.

Visit the Careers page of our website to access open positions: PublicDefender.MO.gov/Employment

Image description: blue and yellow MSPD graphic reading, "Passionate about defending Missouri children? We're hiring! Attorney - St. Louis Children's Defense Team | Learn more and apply: PublicDefender.MO.gov/Employment

09/21/2026

Missouri State Public Defender was proud to be one of the AmeriCorps partners volunteering at the day of service organized by ServMissouri and 9/11 Day. Our AmeriCorps members joined 1,700+ volunteers at the Chaifetz Arena in St. Louis and the T-Mobile Center in Kansas City; together they packed thousands of meals for people experiencing food insecurity.

Image description: blue and white MSPD graphic reading, "Thank you, ServMO: 9/11 Day of Service, 2026 | 626,000 meals were packed for MO food banks! | We joined 50,000 volunteers nationwide!" with two group photos of volunteers smiling at the camera, a photo of two volunteers in black t-shirts, and two candid photos of volunteers packing food into bins; the AmeriCorps & ServMO logos appear at the bottom

09/21/2026

Check out this great NYT feature on Partners for Justice! MSPD is deeply proud to be one of their collaborators, changing the public defense landscape by centering clients' needs and lives in their entirety. As the article states, "The first large-scale study of [the holistic defense approach] concluded that it reduced incarceration rates and time served, preventing people from spending nearly 1.1 million days in custody over the course of a decade, without compromising public safety."

Read more:

09/14/2026

In this episode of the podcast Public Defenseless, host Hunter Parnell speaks with MSPD Director Matthew Crowell and MSPD Communications Strategist Jet McDonald. They discuss how Matthew was able to successfully advocate to make enormous strides towards pay parity at MSPD, as well as the agency’s plans to continue expanding public advocacy to fight for even more improvements to the system. You can listen to the episode on Spotify or Apple Podcasts, or find it through the Public Defenseless website: bit.ly/PublicDefenseless512

Thank you to Hunter Parnell for generating awareness about key topics in public defense!

Image description: black and gold graphic reading “Out Now! Episode 512: ‘How Public Advocacy Secured Missouri Public Defenders Pay Parity and Much More’ with MSPD Director Matthew Crowell and MSPD Communications Strategist Jet McDonald” with the ‘Public Defenseless with Hunter Parnell’ logo, a headphones illustration, and an audio visualizer illustration

09/10/2026

World Su***de Prevention Day reminds us that anyone can be affected by su***de and we can all play a role in preventing it. Visit the Missouri 988 page to get involved and find resources for su***de prevention. Start the conversation. Together, we can change the narrative on su***de. 🌎 ***dePreventionDay 988

08/28/2026

Thank you to Missouri Justice Fellows Hannah Headrick, Alex Griffin, and Molly McDermott for your enthusiastic and dedicated advocacy! Your service to the rural offices in our state has been a huge benefit both to our clients and the system as a whole.

Image descriptions: 3 MSPD "Missouri Justice Fellow Spotlight" graphics with headshots of the 3 Missouri Justice Fellows listed above; the first one reads, "Hannah Headrick: JD, Washburn University; Rolla Trial Office"; the second one reads, "Alex Griffin: JD, University of Missouri; Lebanon Trial Office"; and the third one reads, "Molly McDermott: JD, University of Illinois, Chicago; Cape Girardeau Trial Office"

08/23/2026

It's not too late to RSVP for our free, virtual Careers Q&A event tomorrow! PublicDefender.mo.gov/careers-webinar2026

From 12:00 - 1:00 p.m. (on Mon. 8/24), you'll have the chance to meet with MSPD team members and learn more about both attorney and non-attorney careers at Missouri State Public Defender. You can come and go if you are not available for the full hour, and we welcome attendees at any stage of their education or careers.

MSPD representatives:
Gina Hall: Human Resources Manager
Annie Legomsky: Director of Client Advocacy
Leslie Richins: Investigator
Gina Savoie: Chief of Staff

Let us know you plan to attend at the link above so that you can receive the Zoom meeting details.

Image description: "Tomorrow - Careers Q&A" with the details & link above and four photos in purple circle frames (a person with a microphone, an audience at a training, a person shaking hands, and a person in a courtroom) on a yellow background

08/21/2026

Need help getting an ID? Come to our FREE ID Clinic! This event is open to anyone in the community. Visit our website at PublicDefender.MO.gov/Free-ID-Clinic for details and sign-up.

Date: Thursday, September 10th, 2026
Time: 9:00 a.m. - 1:00 p.m.
Location: St. Louis City Trial Office - Carnahan Courthouse, Room 104 (Building address: 1114 Market St., St. Louis, MO 63101)

Thank you to our event partners: League of Women Voters of Metro St. Louis and the Ashrei Foundation

Walk-ups welcome, but signing up early at the link above helps us get you in and out faster. Appointments usually take 15 minutes to 1 hour depending on what you need (can include driver's license, non-driver ID, city ID, and/or birth certificate). You will not get your ID on the same day, but this clinic will help you get everything prepared so the process is faster and easier.

What to Bring:
Any documents you already have (old IDs, SS card, birth certificate, legal paperwork, etc.) plus a reliable mailing address that is not a P.O. Box.

Image description: a light green flyer reading "Free ID Clinic: Get support with getting your ID or birth certificate - open to everyone!" with the event details above and a QR code to the sign-up form linked above with illustrations of IDs; a contact for questions is listed at the bottom: Gwen Wotawa - [email protected] or (314) 340-7595 ext. 247

08/17/2026

Just ONE WEEK until our online Careers Q&A! Bring your burning questions about working at MSPD - or just chat and listen - during any part of the hour that you are available: Monday, August 24th, 12:00 - 1:00 p.m. on Zoom. RSVP on our website to receive the meeting link and reminders: PublicDefender.MO.gov/careers-webinar2026

We welcome attendees at any stage of their education or careers, and we're excited to tell you more about both attorney and non-attorney roles.

Image description: "Careers Q&A on 8/24" graphic with the event details above, RSVP link, and "Meet MSPD team members! Gina Hall: Human Resources Manager; Annie Legomsky: Director of Client Advocacy; Leslie Richins: Investigator; Gina Savoie: Chief of Staff" with a photo of 10 MSPD team members smiling at the camera