State Appellate Defender Office and Indigent Appellate Defense System (Michigan)

The State Appellate Defender Office is Michigan's statutory appellate defender, fulfilling the requirements of the Appellate Defender Act, MCL 780.712, to represent indigent people appealing criminal convictions. This page explains that SADO has four divisions: the state-funded public defender division, which represents at least 25 percent of people with pending appeals; the Juvenile Lifer Unit; the Michigan Appellate Assigned Counsel System, which manages the private assigned attorneys who handle nearly 75 percent of appeals; and the Criminal Defense Resource Center, which trains appointed trial and appellate counsel. SADO's Project Reentry works with SADO and MAACS clients on reentry planning. Offices are listed at 3031 W Grand Blvd. Suite 450, Detroit, phone 313.256.9833, and 212 East Cesar Chavez, Lansing, phone 517.334.6069. Although hosted on a .org domain, SADO is the official state appellate defender office.