Kevin Kajer, State of Minnesota Board of Public Defense

Throughout more than 30 years of public service, Kevin Kajer has overseen approximately 1,000 employees across Minnesota who provide legal services to those who cannot afford it. Those are the kinds of numbers that three decades as chief administrator for the State of Minnesota Board of Public Defense will get you.

Kajer has dedicated his career to ensuring everyone in the State of Minnesota has access to legal counsel. Starting in 1989, Kajer guided the state legislature’s assumed responsibility of providing partial state funding for the public defender system to provide felony and gross misdemeanor representation in all 10 judicial districts. By 1994, the legislature had assigned the responsibility of providing juvenile and misdemeanor defense to the State Board of Public Defense, all under Kajer’s leadership.

“I have observed, learned from and been inspired by Kevin Kajer’s legislative acumen, leadership, tireless work ethic and professionalism,” said Anna Restovich, co-owner and partner at Restovich Braun and Associates, and former chair of the State Board of Public Defense.

Among other accomplishments, under Kajer’s tenure, the state budget for public defense has grown from $18 million to more than $164 million.

The board’s mission is to protect the liberty of indigent clients and to pursue criminal justice reform on behalf of the people it serves. Kajer has worked with justice partners as well as board members, attorneys and staff to improve the legal representation provided to the board’s clients. To cite one example, he advocated for — and negotiated through the legislative process — the requirement that parents in Child in Need of Protective Services (CHIPS) cases be appointed a public defender if they’re financially eligible.

“His work has usually been behind the scenes, not in the courthouses of Minnesota,” said Restovich. “However, without his work, the attorneys who provide the essential service of public defense, and the staff supporting them, could not function at the high level they do.”