RFQ- Public Defender Services Contracts- Child Welfare

REQUEST FOR QUALIFICATIONS FOR PUBLIC DEFENDER SERVICES CONTRACTS – CHILD WELFARE Public Defender Contract – Child Welfare. Summit County is currently accepting applications for Public Defender duties of indigent child welfare cases in Juvenile Court. Two contracts are available for award. Contractors will be required to appear in all courts where Summit County cases are held, whether in Summit County or other juvenile court locations. The terms for both contracts will begin January 1, 2027, and expire December 31, 2028, with the option of one, 24-month renewal. These are personal services contracts and each contract will be awarded to an individual attorney, not to a law firm. The Summit County Public Defender contracts are non-assignable. Candidates must be a U.S. citizen or permanent resident, a member in good standing of the Utah Bar and competent in the criminal practice of law. Qualified Candidates shall be required to provide competent and timely representation and counsel for each indigent defendant who has been charged by the Summit County Attorney’s Office with violations of Utah law in the Juvenile Court, Silver Summit Division, Third District Court. Candidates must be available and accessible to indigent clients reasonably in advance of any hearing or trial and must make reasonable efforts to visit indigent clients who are in detention, admitted to a hospital or otherwise confined at the earliest possible moment, to return telephone calls as soon as reasonably possible, and to otherwise be reasonably accessible to all indigent clients. Contract pays $180/hour with the option of a CPI-adjusted increase in subsequent years of the contract (pending appropriations from the County Council). Please send letter of interest, resume, and references to Summit County, Purchasing Department, P.O. Box 128, Coalville, Utah, 84017, or electronically to ccoleman@summitcountyutah.gov. Applications must be received by Summit County Purchasing by Monday, November 23, 2026, at 5:00 p.m. MDT. Summit County is an Equal Opportunity Employer.