Amy P. Campanelli

Amy P. Campanelli is the Director of the Muskegon County
(Michigan) Public Defender Office. She was appointed to
this position by the Board of Commissioners of Muskegon
County, and took office on June 10, 2024. As the Director,
Ms. Campanelli heads an office of 50+ staff, which includes
attorneys, a holistic mitigation unit, an investigation unit,
support staff and interns. The Muskegon County Public Defender defends indigent
adults charged with felonies and misdemeanors, minors charged under the Juvenile
Court Act, indigent parents facing removal of their children by the State, and also
provides legal representation at mental health hearings involving competency, civil
commitments, and involuntary medication.

Prior to her appointment in Muskegon, Ms. Campanelli was the Vice-President of
Restorative Justice for the Lawndale Christian Legal Center (LCLC), a non-profit
organization, from May 2021 until October 2023. LCLC, the only community-based
legal practice in Chicago dedicated to the felony criminal defense of juveniles and
emerging adults, provides zealous, holistic, criminal defense at no charge to the
youth of the North Lawndale neighborhood of Chicago. As Vice-President of
Restorative Justice, Ms. Campanelli oversaw LCLCs model of providing holistic
community-based legal services, as well as managed efforts to reform the criminal
court system through policy, organizing, and training.

Prior to joining LCLC, Ms. Campanelli was the tenth Public Defender of Cook
County, serving as the head of the office from April 2015 until March 2021. Ms.
Campanelli was the second female to serve as Public Defender of Cook County, and
her appointment in 2015 was the culmination of 27 years of representing the
indigent accused.
Ms. Campanelli started as an Assistant Cook County Public Defender in November
1987, assigned to the Juvenile Division. Three years later she moved to the Felony
Trial Division. In 1998, Ms. Campanelli temporarily left the Office, but continued to
take criminal cases in private practice. Five years later, in 2003, she returned to the
Office as an Attorney Supervisor assigned to the Felony Trial Division.
Ms. Campanelli became the Chief Assistant Public Defender of Cook County’s
Bridgeview Courthouse in 2008. She became the Capital Case Coordinator for the
Office in 2010. While coordinating all death penalty litigation resources in the
Office, she organized jury focus groups, and spearheaded a two-day capital litigation
conference with experts from around the globe. After the death penalty was
abolished in Illinois in 2011, she served as Deputy Chief of the Homicide Task Force
and Deputy Chief of the Felony Trial Division. In 2012, Ms. Campanelli became theDeputy Public Defender in charge of all five Suburban districts in Cook County, a
position she held until her appointment as the tenth Public Defender.

Over the years, Ms. Campanelli has been a frequent lecturer and trainer on mental
health issues, trial advocacy, trial preparation, and therapeutic courts. Ms.
Campanelli is committed to reducing incarceration of her clients by supporting
smart, fair, and non-discriminatory criminal justice reform at every stage of the
process, and through a holistic client-centered approach.
While serving as the chief Public Defender of Cook County, Ms. Campanelli
managed a budget of $80 million and a staff of approximately 700. At the same
time, she launched multiple initiatives during her six-year administration,
including: the Police Station Representation Unit, making attorneys available 24/7
to respond to calls for counsel by anyone in custody throughout Cook County; the
Mental Health Unit, staffed with an in-house psychologist and social workers
trained to identify clients with mental health issues; an Immigration Unit to
provide legal representation and social help for non-citizen clients facing
deportation and other immigration issues; and increased grant outreach, bringing
much needed resources to her office to support clients both in and out of the
courtroom.
In June 2020, Ms. Campanellis Police Station Representation Unit was recognized
nationally by NACO (National Association of Counties) as a major contribution in
advancing Criminal Justice and Public Safety. This award honored her innovative,
effective government program that strengthened services for residents.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, which started in early 2020 and consumed the
final year of her term as Cook County Public Defender, Ms. Campanelli worked
tirelessly to obtain the release of over 2000 clients from the Cook County Jail, while
working with other stakeholders to provide necessary services to those released.
She was a guest speaker on MSNBC and various news outlets, informing the public
how her office had responded to protecting her clients rights while ensuring public
safety, obtaining the release of at-risk clients from the County Jail, which had a
high concentration of COVID-19 cases.

In April 2020, Chicago Magazine declared Ms. Campanelli as one of the 50 most
powerful women in Chicago, citing her push for bail reform, expansion of mental
health courts and the humane treatment of accused juveniles that made her the
most potent defender the indigent could have. In May 2020, the Chicago Daily Law
Bulletin and Chicago Lawyer Magazine jointly honored her as one of the Most
Influential Women In Law. This award identified her work to advance other women
in the legal profession, as well as her serving as a shining example of leadership.In September 2020, Ms. Campanelli received the Illinois Institute of Technology
Alumni Associations 2020 Professional Achievement Award. This award honored
alumni whose achievements in their fields brought distinction to themselves as well
as credit to the Illinois Institute of Technology. The Professional Achievement
Award is one of the highest distinctions that the university can bestow upon a
graduate.

Ms. Campanelli received her Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Illinois,
Champaign-Urbana, and her Juris Doctor from Chicago-Kent College of Law –
Illinois Institute of Technology.
In her personal life, Ms. Campanelli is a member of St. Francis Xavier parish in La
Grange, Illinois. She has participated as a youth minister and in the wedding
ministry. Ms. Campanelli is a lifelong member of the Delta Delta Delta Sorority.
She is married to Patrick Campanelli, and they have three children: Paul,
Annabelle, and Emily