Gov. Tina Kotek selected Ken Sanchagrin to direct the state’s Oregon Public Defense Commission on a permanent basis.

Sanchagrin has been filling the role of interim executive director since April 2025. His placement is pending Senate confirmation.

The public defense agency is tasked with ensuring every Oregonian charged with a crime has an attorney to represent them. For years, the state has struggled to fulfill this constitutional obligation.

Under Sanchagrin’s tenure, the number of people without legal representation has decreased by 32% as of December 2025. In human terms, some 1,200 people who didn’t have an attorney, now do. Sanchagrin has also managed to change Coos County from being labeled as a “crisis” county with more than 100 people without an attorney to everyone now having legal representation.

“Ken stepped in last April at my request, and he is delivering on the expectations I set forth to address the unrepresented crisis and end the needless delay of justice for defendants and crime victims,” Kotek said in a statement.

Kotek fired the previous head of the Oregon Public Defense Commission last April. The Oregon Public Defense Commission is the agency responsible for contracting with all the state’s public defenders, from the nonprofit public defenders to the attorneys who take cases on an hourly basis. The commission itself has also undergone large transformations recently; it was recently moved from being part of the judicial branch to the executive branch and is now overseen by the governor.

When Kotek announced Sanchagrin as the interim head of the agency, she also asked him to come up with a plan and create a timeline for “when the unrepresented crisis in Oregon will end.”

Sanchagrin has partnered with district attorneys in Coos, Jackson, Marion and Multnomah counties to resolve low-level charges, such as property offenses, quickly. The agency has also created a program to pay attorneys for taking on more cases if the capacity is available.

State Rep. Paul Evans, D-Monmouth, who sits on the public defense commission, said, “Ken is doing well in a tough situation.”

“His continued leadership will provide critical stability as we pivot into the next phases of reform and improvement,” Evans said in a statement.

Lawmakers are expected to consider more changes to the state’s public defense system in the upcoming legislative session in February.

News Source : https://www.opb.org/article/2026/01/23/oregon-governor-new-head-public-defense-agency/