The Maine Commission on Public Defense Services, formerly known as the Maine Commission on Indigent Legal Services, is seeking to hire immigration law consultants to assist the state’s public defenders in their representation of noncitizen defendants. According to a Request for Proposals (RFP) document posted by the Mills administration on Thursday, the state is seeking proposals from attorneys and law firms that would provide immigration law consultation to public defenders who are representing indigent noncitizen clients in criminal and juvenile cases. “The successful Bidder will provide prompt immigration law consultation and advice to attorneys representing indigent non-citizens in criminal and juvenile cases,” the Mills administration wrote in the RFP. The immigration law consultant would be expected to be on call during regular business hours to respond to inquiries from public defenders, primarily over email, and would be expected to work and estimated 12 to 18 hours per week for Public Defense Services. The consultant will also be expected to participate as a presenter in a half-day training program at the Maine Commission on Public Defense Services for education on basic immigration law, and minimum standards training for criminal law and juvenile law. It is unclear from the RFP document how much the Mills administration plans to spend on the immigration law consultant contract. The Commission is accepting proposals from bidders through Nov. 14. In March of this year, Maine Gov. Janet Mills (D) signed a bill into law that created two new public defender offices to serve Aroostook, Penobscot, and Piscataquis counties, and will add ten new public defense attorneys — increasing the total number statewide from 15 to 25. At the time of the bill’s passage, more than 500 adult criminal defendants were without counsel due to the state’s shortage of public defenders.