Gov. Kotek taps interim Oregon public defense head for permanent position 

Oregon Gov. Tina Kotek on Friday chose one of the state’s most experienced criminal justice analysts to take full control over the Public Defense Commission as the state moves closer to stemming its shortage of public defense attorneys.

The governor said that Kenneth Sanchagrin, the agency’s interim director, had shown progress on his efforts to reduce the number of Oregonians without a defense attorney provided by the state.

“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 Friday statement. “The Oregon Public Defense Commission has a duty to provide attorneys to defendants who cannot afford them, and under Ken’s direction, there is a stronger coordinated effort among all branches of government to resolve this crisis with urgency and transparency.”

Oregon lawmakers in 2023 voted to give the governor more control over the agency, moving it from the purview of the Oregon Judicial Department to the executive branch and Kotek’s administration. The Oregon Senate will still need to confirm Sanchagrin’s formal appointment to the executive director role in the upcoming legislative session starting February.

The governor in April fired the public defense commission’s previous executive director, Jessica Kampfe, amid concern that the agency was not making enough progress, with more than 4,000 unrepresented Oregonians at that time. The crisis for years has left many Oregonians without a defense attorney if they cannot afford to hire their own, despite them being guaranteed representation by both Oregon’s and the United States’ Constitution. 

Following Kampfe’s removal, Kotek tapped Sanchagrin, formerly the executive director of Oregon’s Criminal Justice Commission, to take the reins of the public defense commission as interim executive director. In June, he announced a 12-month, seven-point plan that sought to expand contracts with lawyers and nonprofits across the state, increase voluntary caseloads for available attorneys and work to onboard law students who can be supervised.

The governor’s office on Friday suggested those efforts appear to be working, saying in a press release that the number of defendants in the state without an attorney has “dropped significantly.” They pointed to a December 2025 report noting that unrepresented defendants in the state had decreased by 32% to 2,559 from 3,778 a year prior.  One of the previously so-called “crisis” counties where the shortage has been most acute, Coos County, has seen three months of having “few to zero people without counsel,” Kotek’s office said. 

On Friday, Sanchagrin characterized his work as the result of a collaborative approach with staff, courts, district attorneys’ offices and public defense providers. 

“Together, we are working diligently to find and implement solutions that will reduce the number of unrepresented defendants,” he said in a statement. “We have made important progress, but more work remains. I look forward to building on these efforts to address Oregon’s constitutional obligations while creating a more sustainable, accountable and data-driven public defense system.”

Oregon relies on a patchwork of systems to provide defense attorneys for thousands of people accused of crimes, including through contracts with nonprofits and a “consortia” model through agreements with law firms. 

The state’s trial representation division, with offices in areas such as Portland, Salem and Medford, has historically been the smallest unit aiming to provide representation for defendants. They take on specialized cases that require representation within seven days of a person being taken into custody or handle complex dynamics such as mental health, language barriers or lengthy investigations. 

Lawmakers held off on significantly expanding the trial division’s team in the 2025 legislative session, but Kotek and the defense commission have been pushing for an expansion that would likely need legislative approval. In a December request to lawmakers to reroute $1.6 million toward the trial division, Sanchagrin wrote that the money would allow the commission to “replace the equivalent of four hourly caseloads while also funding two additional Trial Division attorneys with zero impact on the agency’s budget and no additional cost to the state general fund.”

Rep. Paul Evans, D-Monmouth, helped lead the push in 2023 for legislation that allocated around $90 million to overhaul the public defense system, and he previously told the Capital Chronicle he would be monitoring the agency’s progress going into the 2026 legislative session. 

On Friday, he said that Sanchagrin 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 text message. “He has my personal and professional support.”

Before leading the state’s Criminal Justice Commission, Sanchagrin worked as the commission’s director of research. He also holds doctoral and master’s degrees in sociology from the University of Iowa, a law degree from Michigan State University, and a bachelor’s in history from the College of Charleston in South Carolina.

Tiffany Woods, a spokesperson for the public defense commission, confirmed that a new offer letter and salary will be issued for Sanchagrin should he be approved by the Oregon Senate. Sanchagrin does not know what the figure will be, she said, but until his confirmation, he will continue to receive his interim salary of $20,063 per month, or an annual rate of $240,756.