Leadership
Phyllis Aluko
Chief Public Defender
Angela Boyce
Administrator of Finance and Operations
Jennifer Case
Administrator, Team Justice, Major Cases Team, Germantown Municipal Court
Nelle Pallme
Administrator, Team Liberty, Re-Entry Unit, Bartlett Municipal Court, and Collierville Municipal Court
Bill Robilio
Administrator, Team Hope, Special Litigation Unit, and Youth Trial Division
Carnita McKeithen
Supervisor - Youth Trial Division
Gregg Carman
Attorney Supervisor - Team Justice
Eric Elms
Attorney Supervisor - Team Justice
Nigel Lewis
Attorney Supervisor - Team Justice
Rob Felkner
Attorney Supervisor - Team Hope
Vincent Ores
Attorney Supervisor - Team Hope
Terrance Tatum
Attorney Supervisor - Team Liberty
Glover Wright
Attorney Supervisor - Team Liberty
Pat McGhee
Office Manager
Our Office
The Law Office of the Shelby County Public Defender provides high-quality, zealous, client-centered legal representation to indigent people in Shelby County, Tennessee. Established in 1917 as the first public defender office east of the Mississippi, The Law Office of the Shelby County Public Defender has a long legacy as a regional and national leader in standing up for equal justice. Today, we are a rapidly-growing law office with lawyers, investigators, administrators, and other professionals – committed to cutting-edge practices in representing adults and children each year at every level of the justice system, from municipal court to the United States Supreme Court. We are proud to stand up for the vulnerable people of Shelby County – one of the nation’s most important cultural centers, with a deep history of struggle for racial and economic justice. Shelby County is Tennessee’s largest county. Our office is located in Memphis, Tennessee. It is one of the more racially and economically diverse metropolitan areas in the southeastern United States.
Our main office is located on the second floor of the Walter L. Bailey Criminal Justice Center, 201 Poplar Avenue, Memphis, TN, 38103, Suite 2-01.
History
It was 1915 and a white woman is found dead. The suspect is a black man who had worked on the family's farm. This event, the trial and what happened afterwards led to the founding of the Shelby County Public Defender's Office in 1917. Many believe we are the third oldest public defense office in the country. Watch this video to hear the story and see why Supreme Court Justice Abe Fortas called public defense the "essence of justice."
Our Community
Shelby County, Tennessee is tucked into the far southwestern corner of the state. It is the largest of Tennessee’s 95 counties in both population and geographic area. Shelby County and seven counties in Western Tennessee, northern Mississippi and eastern Arkansas make up the Memphis Metropolitan Statistical Area. With a population of approximately 1.3 million people, it is one of the more racially and economically diverse metropolitan areas in the southeastern United States.The population of Shelby County is approximately 54.3% African American and 40.9% white with small but growing Latino, Asian and other racial minority communities. This rich diversity is challenged by the city’s deep pockets of poverty — 21.7% of the population lives below the poverty line. Over the past decade, market forces and relocation programs have moved many poor residents into outlying areas away from the city center. Our clients, the majority of whom are poor, undereducated and living in at-risk neighborhoods, are increasingly spread out across the community to the extent that an estimated half of the neighborhoods in Memphis are now affected by poverty. This makes it more difficult for our clients to reach the services they need to move beyond the circumstances that may have brought them into contact with our office, and onto more productive lives.
Map of Shelby County, Tennessee
Community Updates
