Biography
Laurel Arroyo is the Director of Capacity Building at the Office of the State Public Defender’s Indigent Defense Improvement Division in California where she leads a team of lawyers who provide technical assistance to counties who want to improve their public defense systems. She has co-authored reports including “Understanding the National Public Defense Workload Study: A Practical Guide to Mapping Common California Offenses” and “California’s 58 Public Defense Systems,” as well as multiple county- specific evaluations of contract systems in California. She regularly hosts statewide meetings of county
administrators and panel leaders to promote best practices for public defense around the state. She is Board President of the Pacific Juvenile Defender Center where she has worked with others to successfully advocate for legislative reform regarding electronic monitoring and youth transfer. She was a trial-level public defender for Alameda County Public Defender’s office for 16 years in both juvenile and adult courts and regularly advises attorneys around the state on how to use adolescent brain science principles in litigation. Prior to becoming a lawyer, Laurel taught high school in juvenile court schools, and she is a nationally certified youth defense trainer who provides training to attorneys throughout California.
