Internship for KSU

1. Internship Project
By Robin Stocks
Kennesaw State University
CRJU 3398
Summer 2017

2. Introduction
• My Internship was based at the Public Defender office part of the
Georgia Public defender council in Calhoun Georgia.
• I completed my 150 hours by serving as a member of Cherokee
Circuit district administrative team assisting the attorneys with
representing indigents clients in both Gordon and Bartow Counties
by producing motions and documents for court purposes.

3. Objective
• To work cooperatively with my Chief Administrative Assistant,
along with the public defenders, to complete my 150 hour
internship required by Kennesaw State University.
• To develop my skill set and interest in criminal justice and the law
which is an essential for criminal justice reform.
• Advocate for and sought resources for indigent defendants in the
Cherokee Circuit public defender’s system.

4. Structure
• Chief Public Defender
• Assistant Chief Public Defender
• Assistant Public Defender i, ii, iii
• Administrative Assistants
• Investigator

5. Thanks to Gideon v. Wainwright

6. Our Mission
• The Georgia Public Defender Council is an independent agency within
the executive branch of the state government of Georgia. Our mission is
to ensure, independently of political considerations or private interests,
that each client whose cause has been entrusted to a circuit public
defender receives zealous, adequate, effective, timely, and ethical legal
representation, consistent with the guarantees of the Constitution of the
State of Georgia, the Constitution of the United States and the mandates
of the Georgia Indigent Defense Act of 2003; to provide all such legal
services in a cost efficient manner; and to conduct that representation
in such a way that the criminal justice system operates effectively to
achieve justice.

7. Activities
Creating offender’s
files for the
Attorney’s use in
court.
01
Accessing systems
such as JCATS,
Eagle, GCIC, Jail
ATM for inmate
information and
correspondences.
02
Producing and filing
various motions and
orfders for court
purposes with the
Clerk of Court.
03
Helping keeping the
office organized.
04

8. Weaknesses
• Fridays are the slowest (wait is that a weakness)
• Sometimes had to do annoying work
• Couldn’t always attend court on trial week.

9. Opportunities
• Was able to learn about laws requiring when and how to file
motions.
• Attend preliminary hearings and hear arguments.
• Get insight about law school and cheats.
• Meet passionate people passionate about serving indigents.
• Got hired on!!!!!!

10. Threats
• Efficient Software to service each county.
• Working with different counties and their way of doing things.
• There are few mechanisms in place to guarantee that defense
lawyers are consistently held accountable for the quality of
representation they provide to indigent defendants.

11. What I liked
Working besides a
paralegal implementing
what I learned in both
paralegal school and
KSU.
1
Meeting the judges.
2
Providing customer
services to clients
3

12. What I could
live without
• Lack of innovation in some departments

13. Statics