No one applies to be county public defender

Hill County officials received no bids Monday from lawyers interested in serving as the public defender in Hill County Justice Court for the fiscal year that begins July 1.

The deadline to submit bids for the contract was 11 a.m. Monday.

The contract calls for a lawyer or law firm to provide free legal counsel to indigent defendants in Justice Court, where misdemeanor crimes that occur outside the Havre city limits are prosecuted.

Presently, the law firms of Bosch Kuhr Dugdale Martin and Kaze PLLP and Altman and Boucher provide attorneys for Justice Court's public defender program. The firms'...