Public Defender Ronald L. Brown Retires

Wednesday, January 4, 2017

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Public Defender Ronald L. Brown Retires

By a MetNews Staff Writer

BROWN

Ronald L. Brown, who served quietly as Los Angeles County public defender since his appointment by the Board of Supervisors in 2011, retired from office Saturday, without fanfare.

In contrast to his immediate predecessors—Michael P. Judge, who headed the office from 1994-2011, and Wilbur P. Littlefield (since deceased), who led it from 1976-1994—Brown was not a well-known figure within the legal community, seldom attending bar meetings or making speeches.

He was the tenth person to head the office, founded in 2013.

Brown, who was born in Utah, was one of 10 children. The family relocated to South Los Angeles and received public welfare benefits.

He earned his undergraduate degree at USC and his law degree at UCLA. On Dec. 6, 1980 Brown was admitted to the State Bar of California.

At the time of his selection to head the Public Defender’s Office, he had served in it for 29 years, advancing to the post of an assistant public defender in 2006.

Brown on Monday released to the MetNews a copy of his letter to the Board of Supervisors announcing his resignation. It said:

“This is to advise your Board that I will be retiring on December 31, 2016.

“I can’t express how grateful I am to the Board of Supervisors for the confidence and support you’ve shown to me and the members of my outstanding staff. I have worked for this County for over thirty-five years and I can state unequivocally, that this is the best job I have ever had and the support of you and your hard working and gracious staffs have made working here such a pleasure.

“I am also grateful for the leadership, foresight and wisdom this board has shown in stewarding us through the recession. I would be remiss in not praising Sachi Hamai and her staff. She and her staff have ben simply a joy to work with and I foresee great times ahead for this county with her as CEO.

“I will also miss working with the other department heads and particularly the courts and my justice partners who continually strive to ensure that there is justice in our justice system.

“Most of all, I will miss my staff. They work tirelessly and often without public praise or understanding of the difficult job of being the foot soldiers of the constitution. They are the best. It has been a blast. Thank you so very much.”