O.C. Supervisors appoint Frank Ospino to be the County Public Defender

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: February 14, 2012
Contact: Howard Sutter, 714.834.6203 office, Howard.Sutter@ocgov.com

New Public Defender Appointed by the Board of Supervisors

(Santa Ana, CA) — The Orange County Board of Supervisors has appointed Frank Ospino to serve as the County’s Public Defender. His appointment to the positionwas effective January 27, 2012.Ospino has served the County as Interim Public Defender since August of 2011. Hehas held the progressive positions of Deputy Public Defender, Senior Deputy PublicDefender, Assistant Public Defender, and Senior Assistant Public Defender over the course of his 24-year career with the department.

“Frank has risen through the ranksof the Public Defender’s office and worked closely with the previous Public Defenderto prepare himself for this leadership position. We believe he will continue the tradition of providing effective representation to the clients of the Office of the Public Defender,” said Chairman John M.W. Moorlach, Second District Supervisor.

Ospino received his Juris Doctor degree from the University of California, HastingsCollege of Law and has a bachelor of arts in Political Science from the University of California, Irvine. He is a member of the California State Bar, the Orange County Bar Association, the Orange County Hispanic Bar Association, and the California Public Defenders Association.

Ospino was selected by the Board following a nationwide recruitment effort. Hisannual salary will be $207,979.20 ($99.99 an hour).

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