photo by: Meeting screenshot/Criminal Justice Coordinating Council
Defense attorney Sam Allison-Natale is seen speaking to the Criminal Justice Coordinating Council about his nonprofit, Kansas Holistic Defenders, during a virtual meeting in February 2021.
Sam Allison-Natale wants to follow in his parents’ footsteps.
As a child of two public defense attorneys, he knew when he went to law school at New York University that he wanted to be one too.
“This is in my blood,” said Allison-Natale, a criminal defense attorney who previously served as a public defender in New York City for the nonprofit organization The Bronx Defenders.
Now in Lawrence, Allison-Natale is hoping to continue on the public defender path as he offers a potential alternative to the way that Douglas County currently handles criminal cases for people who cannot afford attorneys.
photo by: Meeting screenshot/Douglas County Commission
Douglas County Commissioner Patrick Kelly, top right, jokes about sending a mallet to Commissioner Shannon Portillo, bottom left, for her to use after she was elected as the Commission Chair for 2021 during a meeting on Wednesday, Jan. 13, 2021. Commissioner Shannon Reid, bottom right, was elected as vice chair.
Two new Douglas County officials on Wednesday quickly stepped into leadership roles just days after they were sworn into office.
Commissioners Shannon Portillo and Shannon Reid were unanimously elected as chair and vice chair of the County Commission during its regular meeting. Both were appearing during their first meeting after they filled the seats on the commission on Monday.