The mission of the San Francisco Public Defender’s office is to protect and defend the rights of our indigent clients, through effective, vigorous, compassionate, and creative legal advocacy.

We aspire to provide the highest level of legal advocacy for each of our clients, and to be a nationwide model for the delivery of indigent defense services.

Racial Equity Action Plan – Phase I: December 30, 2020
In response to the City’s growing racial disparities, and as a means to address the history of structural and institutional racism in San Francisco’s delivery of services to the public and its own internal practices and systems, San Francisco legislated the creation of the Office of Racial Equity (Ordinance No. 188-19) in July 2019. For more information, please visit the Office of Racial Equity’s website: https://www.racialequitysf.org/

The Office of Racial Equity has called for all City’s Departments to prepare and submit a 3-year plan for Phase 1. Like all City Departments, we have work to do to ensure that we examine racial disparities and develop effective changes, programs, initiatives, and policies to address them. Our Plan describes many of the steps to be taken in this first phase, to apply racial equity principles to inspect and dismantle unfair and harmful structural and institutional policies and practices, while creating an actively anti-racist workplace.

The Public Defender’s Office (PDR) has prepared its Racial Equity Action Plan –Phase I: December 30, 2020, and will submit it the Plan to the Office of Racial Equity. This is a working document and we anticipate updating during the 3-year period. We welcome this opportunity for continued growth while maintaining our ardent commitment to racial justice work.