Join Michigan’s State Appellate Defender Office (SADO) as a full-time, limited-term Records Specialist in our Juvenile Lifer Unit. The salary range for this position is $42,490 to $60,009, depending on experience.
Job Summary
SADO’s Juvenile Lifer Unit seeks motivated and qualified applicants to work with incarcerated clients who are newly eligible for resentencing hearings under the Michigan Supreme Court’s recent landmark ruling in People v Czarnecki and People v Taylor. Approximately 580 incarcerated Michiganders who were once sentenced to mandatory life imprisonment without the possibility of parole (LWOP) for homicide offenses that occurred when they were 19 or 20 years old are now entitled to resentencing. The Juvenile Lifer Unit is hiring additional, limited-term staff to provide direct representation to these individuals.
This is a full-time, limited-term position with funding allocated through September 30, 2026. Continuation of this position beyond that date is contingent on future budget allocations.
SADO’s Juvenile Lifer Unit advocates for individuals who are serving unconstitutionally cruel and unusual life without parole sentences for crimes committed as youth and who are now entitled to resentencing proceedings and for an opportunity for freedom from incarceration. The JLU Records Specialist works collaboratively with a multidisciplinary legal defense team of attorneys, mitigation specialists, reentry specialists, paralegals, and other staff. The Records Specialist aids in the mitigation investigation and preparation for our clients’ resentencing proceedings by obtaining, organizing, and analyzing documentary evidence.
The Records Specialist must be organized, creative, and persistent. At SADO we are dedicated to building a multidisciplinary team with diverse perspectives and experiences.
Job Responsibilities
Specific duties include, but are not limited to:
· Obtain, organize, and review mitigation records and documents, such as prison records, school records, medical and mental health records, and newspaper/archival records;
· Review case files and proactively identify places to request records from;
· Meticulously document all record collection efforts by tracking progress in Excel spreadsheets, SADO’s case management system, and saving all record requests and communications to the case file;
· Ensure that paper and electronic records are organized and saved;
· Bates stamp mitigation records and maintain an updated Bates index for all records;
· Analyze mitigation records and synthesize information into summaries, digests, chronologies, timelines, and charts; and,
· Assist attorneys with general hearing preparation such as preparing exhibits and other necessary tasks.