Tim Young to step down, Elizabeth Miller to become first female Ohio public defender

Ohio Public Defender Tim Young will step down after 16 years and assistant director Elizabeth Miller will take the post, becoming the first female attorney to hold the job.

The Ohio public defender runs the largest public interest law firm in the state. The office has 180 employees, including roughly 100 attorneys.

Young led efforts to reform indigent defense in Ohio and created the Ohio Wrongful Conviction Project, an exoneration project that focuses on cases without DNA. He plans to retire in 2025.

Miller served as an assistant state public defender in 2004 in the juvenile department, worked at the Hamilton County Public Defender's office from 2011 to 2012 and then rejoined the state public defender's office.

The state public defender provides legal representation to people accused or convicted of a crime who cannot afford to hire an attorney. It represents people on appeal and post-conviction in death penalty, criminal and juvenile delinquency case.

Laura Bischoff is a reporter for the USA TODAY Network Ohio Bureau, which serves the Columbus Dispatch, Cincinnati Enquirer, Akron Beacon Journal and 18 other affiliated news organizations across Ohio.

This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Ohio Public Defender to retire, assistant named to the post