Kara Kurland is an assistant appellate defender with the Office of the State Appellate Defender. Prior to becoming a lawyer, Kara worked at Innocence Project New Orleans, where she lobbied for legislation that addressed the causes and consequences of wrongful convictions.

Ronald L. Lewis has been the McLean County Chief Public Defender since 2021. He has been with the office since 1996. Prior to that he was in private practice with an emphasis in criminal, traffic, appellate, family, and personal injury law. Ron received his J.D. from The John Marshall Law School (now UIC) in 1991 and his B.A. from Eastern Illinois University in 1988. Ron is Licensed to practice in Illinois with prior Capital Litigation Trial Bar lead-counsel certification; United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit, and the United States District Court, Central District of Illinois. His service and memberships include: Illinois Public Defender Association (past 2nd Vice President, current board member, speaker; 2018 Bruce Robert Jacob Award recipient); Illinois State Bar Association (ISBA) (Criminal Justice Section Council, past Assembly member); National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers (NACDL); McLean County Bar Association; Faculty Jamie Kunz Trial Advocacy Program; past-Illinois Integrated Justice Information System (IIJIS) Implementation Board; McLean County Criminal Justice Coordinating Council.

Kristen Nevdal is a Deputy Chief Public Defender in the DuPage County Public Defender’s Office. She is a graduate of University of Wisconsin Law School, and University of Illinois, BS Psychology. She is a member of the DuPage County Bar Association, DuPage Association of Women Lawyers, and DuPage County Criminal Defense Lawyers Association.