Gov. Janet Mills signed legislation Thursday expanding the state’s roster of public defenders, this time adding 10 defenders to northern Maine.

The new law, which took effect upon signing, creates 22 new positions, including 10 public defenders, covering Aroostook, Penobscot and Piscataquis counties.

“The right to counsel is one that I deeply value and have personally delivered myself, having represented low-income clients many times during my own legal career,” Mills said in her announcement.

Until recently, Maine was the only state in America with no public defender’s offices at all. Indigent defendants who could not afford lawyers made use of private attorneys hired by the state on a contract basis. 

Public pressure, including a 2022 lawsuit against the state on the subject from the American Civil Liberties Union, has led to legislators and Mills working to create the offices and hire proper public defenders, starting in late 2022. Prior to this week’s new legislation, Maine had employed 15 public defenders.

Mills also signed a new budget to allow the Maine Commission on Indigent Legal Services to raise the rate for its attorneys from $80 to $150 per hour.