In a series of stories, AL.com will continue to explore big ideas for transforming Birmingham.

It was when his public defenders showed him that he was more than just another case to them, that Brandon Baez turned his life around.

Just five years ago Baez was making yet another appearance in drug court when it hit him: “I realized … that people up there actually did care about me and wanted to see me succeed,” Baez said.

Since then, Baez, now 38, has beat his addiction, become a homeowner, started a business and a nonprofit and devoted his life to building something positive in the community for those who struggle with what he once did.

That’s the kind of difference the Jefferson County Public Defender’s Office wants to make, said Adam Danneman, who has led the team of court-appointed lawyers since 2019.

Baez said he’s been in and out of the public defender’s Office since he was 17-years-old.

Despite losing his friends, family, money and home to his struggle with drug addiction, Baez said, his public defender was always patient and supportive, encouraging him to participate in drug treatment court.

“Because of the drug court, and because of the people in the public defender’s office, I am now free. I am finally free from the drugs and alcohol and that sick way of thinking that I had for so many years. And it’s all because they actually made me feel like they cared about me,” Baez told AL.com. “It changed my life entirely.”

Public defenders ensure that anyone in need, regardless of financial status, has access to legal representation. Over the years, the Jefferson County Public Defender’s Office has helped clients, like Baez, overcome financial barriers and break cycles of crime.

The defender’s office is part of a network of investigators, social workers and advocates who provide clients in need with resources including crisis intervention, therapy and addiction recovery, among other support services.

Danneman, Jefferson County’s current public defender, said that aside from free legal representation, public defenders also get their clients other kinds of help they need.

“We have a job to do, and it is to represent our clients’ legal rights. But a lot of times, you’d be surprised how often representing somebody’s legal rights coincides with putting them in a position to better their lives,” Danneman said.

“It’s nice to have multiple services under one roof where we can try to help people be in a position where they don’t need our help anymore.”

What you should know about the public defender’s office

The Jefferson County Public Defender’s Office opened under the Alabama Department of Finance in 2013 to provide residents with dependable legal representation.

Before then, people facing financial hardships were still appointed counsel by local judges, but the lawyers’ experience levels were often inconsistent.

Meanwhile, on the other side of the case, the prosecutors at the District Attorney’s Office were generally more experienced and skilled.

“We’re not collecting fees from our clients, and we’re not asking the court to charge them fees for our representation,” Danneman said.

“People shouldn’t get less representation because they have less money in their account.”

Another reason the Jefferson County courts switched to the public defender system, was as a statewide effort to save taxpayer money by controlling the spiraling cost of providing lawyers for criminal defendants unable to afford counsel.

In Jefferson County’s Birmingham division, the state spent $6.8 million on indigent defense in 2002, which rose to $12.5 million in 2011, according to reports. In 2018, the state spent $4.8 million for public defense in Jefferson County, according to the Department of Finance.

The lawyers are paid through the Fair Trial Tax Fund and the State General Fund.

In 2011, Birmingham division court officials included a five-member Indigent Defense Advisory Board. Today, 42 lawyers work for the Jefferson County Public Defender’s Office, taking on cases ranging from traffic tickets to capital murder.

With the uptick in homicides, Danneman said his office handled about 78% of the cases in Jefferson County in 2024, totaling about 6,000 new cases.

Finances often get in the way of paying tickets and attending court.

To combat that, the public defender’s office hosts an annual Amnesty Week event with the Jefferson County District Attorney’s Office.

Residents with active failure to appear warrants for traffic cases, misdemeanors and nonviolent felonies get their warrants recalled, court dates reset and outstanding court costs and fines waived.

Since 2023, the offices have helped to clear over 7,400 arrest warrants for traffic offenses for over 4,300 residents.

“We care about the quality of representation and making sure it’s consistently excellent,” Danneman said.

“The goal is to have people that are dedicated to a mission provide excellent defense to somebody in the same way as somebody who can afford a very good lawyer.”

‘Recovery is possible’

Danneman said the public defender’s office isn’t just about providing legal counsel, it’s about giving people in need a second chance.

Like Brandon Baez, many defendants also struggle with drug addiction. Recovery is not linear and often involves relapses.

The last time Baez went to drug court, at age 33, he said the stories his lawyers shared about their own struggles with addiction and recovery really hit him.

“A couple of them shared their stories with me, the struggles that they had dealt with,” Baez said.

“There are a few of them that are in recovery themselves so they have fought the same battles that I fought and came out the other end of it.”

One lawyer encouraged Baez to participate in a 12-step Alcoholics Anonymous program.

“Them taking the time and sharing their stories with me and saying, ‘I struggled with all these same problems. This is how I got better. There is hope on the other end of this. You can do it.’ That was what I needed.”

Participating in the drug treatment court program not only cleared his criminal record, it helped Baez to recover.

“By giving you all those resources and opportunities, the support that you need…That’s life changing,” Baez said.

In 2022, a year after getting sober, Baez founded Spartan Property Management, a small local real estate business.

He also founded Active Recovery Outreach, which started as a Facebook group encouraging people in recovery to participate in fun community activities, including paintballing, bowling and pickleball.

Baez has also hosted local fundraisers with the Jefferson County Drug Treatment Court and the Arthur and Eva Brown Foundation for family-friendly events that, he said, help bring the community together.

“We’re trying to teach people that just because you get sober doesn’t mean that the fun ends. That’s when the fun begins. You get to do everything you ever dreamed of. There’s nothing holding you back anymore,” Baez said. “Recovery is possible.”