In an effort to better represent the diversity in practice and geography of the membership, the IPDC Board of Directors voted in 2020 to modify its composition. The following rules govern board membership.
County representation
No more than 4 members from any one county may serve on the board at the same time. Members who relocate to a different county after being elected may continue to serve — the county limit applies at the time of election, not throughout the term. The State Public Defender is excluded from this calculation as an ex officio member.
Term limits
No member may serve more than 3 consecutive terms (6 years). After reaching the limit, a member must sit out one full term before running again.
The term expiration listed in each member's profile reflects only the expiration date of their current term.
IPDC Board of Directors
Indiana Public Defender Council — Board Member Profiles
Denise Turner
Denise L. Turner graduated from the George Washington University Law School in 2010 and began her law career as a public defender in Marion County. For six years, she worked tirelessly fighting for the indigent and their rights. Now in private practice, she works as a part-time public defender in Lawrence County and as indigent appellate counsel in Shelby County. She is also a member of the federal CJA panel, accepting indigent appointments to those charged with federal crimes.
A firm believer in collaborative environments, Denise brings over eleven years of dedicated public defense experience to the Board.
Talisha Griffin
Talisha Griffin is a public defender with the Marion County Public Defender Agency, where she has worked since graduating from law school in 2017. She currently serves as the Assistant Chief of the Appellate Division and has argued before the Indiana Court of Appeals and the Supreme Court. Talisha has successfully worked to free several individuals serving federal life sentences and is an adjunct professor at the IU McKinney School of Law.
Rebecca Gray
Rebecca L. Gray graduated from the George Washington University Law School in 2012. She began her career as a prosecutor in Miami, Florida, before joining the public defense community in 2016. She has specialized in major felony cases in Shelby County and has completed contract work in Marion, Clark, and Clinton counties. She also serves on the Federal CJA panel and remains passionate about ensuring the rights of all are protected.
Amy Karozos
Amy Karozos was appointed State Public Defender in January 2020. Previously, she worked with IPDC as project director for an OJJDP grant to improve Indiana's juvenile indigent defense services. She has served as a contract public defender in Marion County juvenile court, and in the Marion County Public Defender Appellate Division, and as a staff attorney with Youth Law T.E.A.M. of Indiana. She began her career as a deputy public defender at the State Public Defender's Office.
Renee Ortega
Renee Ortega has been a public defender in the Lake County Juvenile Court since 2014. She also represents clients in CHINS, Delinquency, and Termination appeals, and serves the indigent population through Hammond Legal Aid. Renee currently serves as the At-Large Representative for the ISBA Board of Governors and is a member of the Lake County Bar Association's Board of Managers.
Jeremy Gooch
Jeremy P. Gooch is a 2001 graduate of the Indiana University Robert H. McKinney School of Law. After more than 15 years handling criminal defense matters in Hendricks County, Jeremy was hired in June 2017 to become Hendricks County's first Chief Public Defender. He built the Hendricks County Public Defenders Office and continues to maintain a partial caseload representing indigent clients. He previously served as the sole public defender for the Hendricks County Drug Court from its inception through June 2017.
Stephanie L. Kress
Stephanie Kress is a 2009 graduate of the IU School of Law in Indianapolis and an attorney at Rolfes, Garvey, Walker & Robbins in Greensburg. Since 2011, she has served as a public defender, with a focus since 2014 on indigent defense and advocacy for parents in CHINS and TPR matters in Decatur and surrounding counties. She is the 2021 Gideon Award recipient and has presented for IPDC on the topic of client communication.
Kendal Gulbrandsen
Kendal Gulbrandsen is the Misdemeanor Supervisor at the Marion County Public Defender Agency, with 13 years of experience representing clients in misdemeanor and major felony cases. His passion for criminal defense began in law school, and he joined the MCPDA immediately after graduation. Kendal teaches CLEs, collaborates with public defenders across counties, and advocates for the profession before the legislature.
Lucy Frick
Lucy Frick is an attorney with the Marion County Public Defender Agency, where she has worked since graduating from IU McKinney School of Law in 2015. She has spent eight years in the major felony division and currently serves as a team lead. Lucy is passionate about mentoring new attorneys and believes strongly that the legal profession should be welcoming to those just starting out.
Deana Martin
Deana Martin graduated from IU McKinney where she went to law school for the sole purpose of becoming a public defender. She is currently Chief Trial Counsel at the Marion County Public Defender Agency, where she has worked for 20 years. Deana has worked in various divisions handling misdemeanors to capital cases. She’s also an adjunct professor at IU McKinney teaching the Criminal Defense Clinic and Trial Practice classes. She’s taught dozens of CLE’s around Indiana and surrounding states and is involved with training through the National Association for Public Defense and training the Colorado Method of Capital Voir Dire.
Matthew Lorch
Matthew W. Lorch is a 2004 graduate of the University of Dayton School of Law and has practiced criminal defense for more than twenty years. He has served as Chief Public Defender for Floyd County since 2022, where he leads an office of fifteen contracted deputy public defenders and oversees its staffing, budget, and daily operations. He has worked in public defense since 2012, with experience spanning misdemeanor and major felony cases as well as juvenile, CHINS, and termination of parental rights matters, and he is admitted in Indiana and Kentucky. He remains focused on delivering consistent representation to indigent clients in Floyd County and, through his work with the IPDC Board, on strengthening public defense across Indiana.