How Jerri Green plans to breathe life back into one of the nation’s oldest public defender offices
Jerri Green will serve as the interim chief public defender for Shelby County. She is also a Democratic candidate for Tennessee governor and serves on the Memphis City Council. (Mark Weber/The Daily Memphian)
Two small, unassuming interview rooms in the Shelby County Public Defender’s Office now have matching furniture. A large TV mounted on the lobby wall now displays community resources, rather than notifications for when the office is closed. Sets of peeling vinyl chairs in the waiting room will soon be replaced.
It’s the little things Jerri Green wants to fix while she leads the office temporarily. She wants to make it more inviting for the hundreds of clients that shuffle in and out of its doors every year.
The office is one of the oldest of its kind in the nation, having been established in 1917.
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Aarron Fleming
Aarron Fleming covers public safety for The Daily Memphian, focusing on crime and the local court system. He earned his bachelor’s in journalism and strategic media from the University of Memphis.
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