Monroe County legislators reappointed Public Defender Julie Cianca to a new two-year term during their meeting this week.
Cianca has been the county’s chief public defender since she was first appointed in 2022 after a year-long political battle over the office. She was previously reappointed in 2024 and has worked in the Public Defender's Office for 29 years.
Five Republicans voted against Cianca on Tuesday. The caucus's leader, Legislator Sean McCabe, was the only member to explain his vote against her appointment.
"As was the reasoning behind my past no votes, it is based on lingering concerns with the public defender's own public partisan policy statements," McCabe said, "specifically past statements dismissing any relationship between bail reform and public safety, rejecting the need for a dangerousness standard, and criticizing law enforcement."
Cianca, like many public defenders, defense attorneys, and civil liberties groups, has spoken repeatedly in defense of the 2019 overhaul of New York's bail laws. She also has opposed creating a "dangerousness standard," which would let judges consider whether releasing a defendant poses a public safety risk.
Speaking during a meeting of the Legislature's Public Safety Committee last month, Cianca said her office has improved employee retention and office morale.
She also said the office has expanded training programs and built more community partnerships, some of which play into that training.
Cianca added that looking to the future, she plans to explore technology for the office such as AI programs that can help with the discovery process, which is when the prosecution and defense exchange information and potential evidence. There are also some ongoing issues with the office's physical location that need to be addressed, she said.
"These are all probably good problems to have and I remain extremely optimistic about the direction we're going in," Cianca said.
