Berrien County officials are looking for a new chief public defender and the county commission has approved assigning chief assistant public defender Christopher Renna to head up the department on an interim basis. Renna will assume that role officially on August 5, taking over for Carl Macpherson, who is leaving to return to Oregon and says he is interested in getting the job permanently.
“These are obviously very big shoes to fill,” Renna told WSJM News last night after the county Board of Commissioners’ meeting in Watervliet. “I’ve had the privilege of knowing Carl for 12 years, he’s been a big mentor for me in my own career, so I was happy and honored to come here and work for him in the chief assistant role.”
Renna will serve as interim chief public defender for a maximum of three months unless the county board issues an extension. Macpherson was hired in March 2016, three months after the county board approved the creation of the job, and announced his resignation this summer.
Berrien County Administrator Bill Wolf commended Macpherson’s work, saying defendants are getting regular visits in jail awaiting trial and people are getting much better representation now. Sheriff Paul Bailey added that while law enforcement works to make sure the guilty are punished, the work the office has done since Macpherson was hired in March 2016 has really helped to balance the scales of justice in the county. Renna will be in the interim role as the chief public defender for up to three months, but says he is interested in getting the job permanently.
