Congress approves funding for W.D. Va. public defender's office

The Roanoke paper reports here ("Western Va. gets funds to create federal public defender's office," 3/11/05) that Congress has funded the proposed public defenders' office for the Western District of Virginia. The article quotes Chief Judge Jones as saying that the head of the office will be appointed by the Fourth Circuit. The article notes that the W.D. Va. is among only 14 out of the 94 district courts in the U.S. without a public defender. The article says Judge Jones envisions six assistants, and offices in Abingdon and Charlottesville as well as Roanoke, and that the chief public defender will be selected within six to nine months.