Thurston County appoints new director of Public Defense

Patrick O’Connor has been appointed as Thurston County’s new director of Public Defense.

He has served in that role on an interim basis since March.

“The Public Defense director is a vital position in our community,” commission chair Bud Blake said in a county news release issued Friday. “We always want to ensure that we have representation from the community to help in making decisions of this magnitude.”

The commissioners voted 2-1to appoint O’Connor to the seat on Thursday. Blake voted against the appointment. He declined to comment on the vote, saying he made his comments about the appointment during an executive session.

O’Connor accepted the offer and will begin in his role as the director effective immediately, according to the news release.

The position was vacated Feb. 28 when the commissioners asked for former director Daryl Rodrigues’ resignation, stating that they had lost confidence in his ability to lead the department “both financially and through personnel actions.”

The salary range for the position is $106,428 to $141,900 a year, according to the county’s salary schedule.

This story was originally published August 4, 2017 at 4:38 PM with the headline "Thurston County appoints new director of Public Defense."