Biography
Laurel Arroyo is the Director of Capacity Building in the Office of the State Public Defender’s Indigent Defense Improvement Division, where she provides technical assistance to counties seeking to strengthen their public defense systems. She works closely with public defender offices, panel leaders, and rural county leaders to promote best practices and improve access to high-quality representation throughout California.
Before joining OSPD in 2022, Laurel spent 17 years as a trial attorney with the Alameda County Public Defender’s Office, where she represented clients in both juvenile and adult courts and tried numerous cases. Her extensive courtroom experience informs her work training and mentoring public defenders across the state.
Laurel serves on the Board of Directors of the California Youth Defender Center, where she has helped advance legislative reforms involving electronic monitoring and youth transfer laws. A graduate of Brown University and the University of San Francisco School of Law, she previously taught high school in juvenile court schools and is a nationally certified youth defense trainer. She enjoys coaching her daughter’s mock trial team and mentoring the next generation of public defenders.
