A year ago last month, Kalamazoo County got its first public defender’s office. Kalamazoo Defender Executive Director Joshua Hilgart says they’ve learned a lot in that year. That includes that roughly more than 60 percent of the 5,000 low-income criminal defendants it served are battling other issues, such as unstable housing, mental illness, joblessness and addiction. Hilgart tells us more in an interview that aired today.
