Allegheny County names chief public defender

Acting Chief Public Defender Matthew Dugan has been officially appointed to the post, County Manager William D. McKain announced Tuesday.

Dugan has served as acting chief public defender since May 2019, when his predecessor, Elliot Howsie, was confirmed as an Allegheny County Court of Common Pleas judge.

“I’m just really excited to continue the great work we’ve been working on,” Dugan said, highlighting programs like Project Reset, which helps residents who have been charged with or convicted of low-level, nonviolent offenses to expunge their records.

Dugan also represents the public defender’s office on the county Safety and Justice Challenge team, a partnership of offices from across the criminal justice system working to reduce the population of the Allegheny County Jail.

The team’s efforts are funded by a two-year MacArthur Foundation grant, which has allowed the public defender’s office to hire additional staff to represent clients during evening and overnight preliminary arraignments.

“We’re proud of the work that has been done in the Public Defender’s office under this administration to ensure that our residents have effective and vigorous representation,” County Executive Rich Fitzgerald said in a statement. “Under Matt’s leadership, the improvements to the office will continue to be transformational for the clients that are served, with an increased focus on connecting clients with services and resources that they need to take better control of their lives.”

Dugan joined the public defender’s office in 2007 as a trial attorney and was promoted to trial manager in 2013. He became deputy of the pre-trial division in 2016 and assumed the role of chief deputy director in 2018.

Dugan earned a bachelor’s degree from Villanova University and law degree from Duquesne University.

In addition to working as an adjunct professor at the University of Pittsburgh Law School, Dugan serves as an elected member of the Moon Area School District board of directors and was appointed by the Pennsylvania Supreme Court last year to the state Criminal Procedural Rules Committee.