Mary Fox to head Missouri State Public Defender System

The Missouri State Public Defender Commission has selected Mary Fox, district defender for the city of St. Louis, to be the next director of the Missouri State Public Defender System.

H. Riley Bock, a New Madrid attorney who serves as chair of the commission, said the group is pleased to have filled the vacancy created by the September 2019 resignation of Michael Barrett. Barrett joined the Adirondack Mountain Club in New York as its executive director in November.

“We’re pleased with our selection,” he said. “I think she’ll make a very good director and a very good face for our public defender system.”

Bock said it will take a couple of weeks until Fox is sworn in. She must first establish residency in the Jefferson City area, which is a requirement of the state role, he said.

“Hopefully that transition will be completed in two to three weeks,” he said.

Fox has served as district defender in St. Louis since 2007. She could not be reached for comment on her selection.

Prior to becoming district defender, she served as traffic commissioner for St. Louis County and practiced family and juvenile law, according to a news release from the commission. She served as an assistant public defender in the Clayton and St. Louis city trial offices from 1981 until 1987.

Fox earned her law degree from Saint Louis University School of Law in 1980.