Countywide

After a national search, the board of trustees of Community Defenders Inc., a nonprofit corporation expected to replace the county’s public defender department later this year, has selected a local attorney as director of the new program.

Alex Landon, who graduated from University of San Diego Law School in 1971, was hired to launch the program. He will head a staff of about 135 lawyers. Landon will be paid a salary on par with that of District Atty. Edwin Miller, who earns $94,432 annually.

Landon has served since 1982 as executive director of Defenders Inc., which holds the largest contract with the county to provide legal service to poor clients whose cases are not handled directly by the county’s Office of Defender Services.

In August, the county Board of Supervisors agreed to establish the community defender program to replace the mix of county staff lawyers and contract law firms that represent 30,000 indigents annually in criminal cases. The contract system had been under fire from critics for failing to provide adequate representation to those unable to afford private lawyers.