Agency file

Public Defender

Source file: Cook County, Illinois — Employee Payroll / ingested Jun 19, 2026

The Public Defender handles legal functions of government — prosecution, legal advice, and representing the state in court.

In 2018, this agency had 15 employees with median total compensation of $12,784; the highest distinct record was $13,354.

Year: 2018
Total payroll: $131.1K
Employees: 15
Median total: $12,784
Highest record: $13,354

What the records show

Compensation analytics

These summaries compare pay within the agency before listing individual records.

Salary distribution

$1,730$13,354+

Hover a bar for its range; click to filter the list below.

How 2018 total compensation is spread across the 15 employees. Each bar is a pay range; taller bars mean more people earn in that range. The amber line marks the median ($12,784) — half earn less, half more. The far-right bar collects the highest earners.

Average pay composition

Base — $8,738 (100%)
Overtime — $0 (0%)
Other — $0 (0%)
Benefits — $0 (0%)

What an average paycheck here is made of — base salary versus overtime, other pay (bonuses, allowances), and benefits. A large overtime or other-pay share means take-home often exceeds base salary.

Pay percentiles

10th

25th

Median

75th

90th

$2,003

$12,784

$13,354

The pay ladder for this department. Someone at the 90th percentile earns $13,354 — more than 90% of the department; the 10th percentile earns $2,003. The shaded band is the middle half of employees (25th–75th percentile).

Largest job titles

Assistant Public Defender I

12 · $12,268

System Administrator

2 · $12,784

Mitigation Specialist

1 · $1,730

The most common job titles in this department by headcount, with the median total compensation for each. Click a title to see everyone who holds it.

Trend

Year over year

How this department's total payroll, headcount, and median pay changed across the 3 published years.

Year	Total payroll	Employees	Median pay
2016	$18.3K —	1 —	$18,341 —
2017	$41.2K ▲ 124.8%	3 ▲ 200.0%	$11,869 ▼ 35.3%
2018	$131.1K ▲ 217.9%	15 ▲ 400.0%	$12,784 ▲ 7.7%

Record list

Employees

Page 1

Fernando Romo

System Administrator/Public Defender

2018 total comp

$12,784

Base pay: $12,784
Overtime: $0
Other pay: $0
Benefits: $0
Total compensation: $12,784
Hire date: 2018-04-02

Source-specific fields

Employee Identifier: e7b2e9c1-41eb-4d7c-b4e1-a2133d4f6ccf
Fiscal Period: 2018Q2
Fiscal Quarter: 2
Job Code: 6952
Office: 1260
Position Id: 1800182

Fernando Romo holds the role of System Administrator at Public Defender. Hired in 2018, they have under a year of service. In 2018, their total compensation was $12,784.

Kofi Agyekum

System Administrator/Public Defender

2018 total comp

$12,784

Base pay: $12,784
Overtime: $0
Other pay: $0
Benefits: $0
Total compensation: $12,784
Hire date: 2018-04-02

Source-specific fields

Employee Identifier: 73d3ea17-41a8-4dca-b446-517ccadec546
Fiscal Period: 2018Q2
Fiscal Quarter: 2
Job Code: 6952
Office: 1260
Position Id: 1800184

At Public Defender, Kofi Agyekum serves as a System Administrator. Their tenure dates to 2018, under a year. Their 2018 pay totaled $12,784.

Gokul Sripada

Assistant Public Defender I/Public Defender

2018 total comp

$11,181

Base pay: $11,181
Overtime: $0
Other pay: $0
Benefits: $0
Total compensation: $11,181
Hire date: 2018-03-19
Middle name: K

Source-specific fields

Employee Identifier: 5d3763d9-81a1-4336-ad09-ae192813b68d
Fiscal Period: 2018Q2
Fiscal Quarter: 2
Job Code: 604
Office: 1260
Position Id: 1800445

Gokul Sripada is a Assistant Public Defender I at Public Defender. Hired in 2018, they have under a year of service. 2018 total compensation came to $11,181.

Judith Phinney

Mitigation Specialist/Public Defender

2017 total comp

$10,743

Base pay: $10,743
Overtime: $0
Other pay: $0
Benefits: $0
Total compensation: $10,743
Hire date: 2017-07-10

Source-specific fields

Employee Identifier: 1f38b9ab-5223-4052-9b87-785f807ed2e3
Fiscal Period: 2017Q4
Fiscal Quarter: 4
Job Code: 5924
Position Id: 1200905

Judith Phinney is a Mitigation Specialist at Public Defender. Their tenure dates to 2017, under a year. 2017 total compensation came to $10,743.

Yvette Lopez

Assistant Public Defender I/Public Defender

2018 total comp

$4,451

Base pay: $4,451
Overtime: $0
Other pay: $0
Benefits: $0
Total compensation: $4,451
Hire date: 2018-05-14

Source-specific fields

Employee Identifier: b3a96471-b81c-4645-8c69-f8ed4b7f013f
Fiscal Period: 2018Q2
Fiscal Quarter: 2
Job Code: 604
Office: 1260
Position Id: 1800335

Yvette Lopez holds the role of Assistant Public Defender I at Public Defender. Their tenure dates to 2018, under a year. In 2018, their total compensation was $4,451.

Iarina Serban

Assistant Public Defender I/Public Defender

2018 total comp

$2,003

Base pay: $2,003
Overtime: $0
Other pay: $0
Benefits: $0
Total compensation: $2,003
Hire date: 2018-02-20
Middle name: N

Source-specific fields

Employee Identifier: a3674926-2bc1-4c2f-a068-8c4a80b31a26
Fiscal Period: 2018Q2
Fiscal Quarter: 2
Job Code: 604
Position Id: 1800143

At Public Defender, Iarina Serban serves as a Assistant Public Defender I. Their tenure dates to 2018, under a year. Their 2018 pay totaled $2,003.

Steven Pick

Assistant Public Defender I/Public Defender

2018 total comp

$2,003

Base pay: $2,003
Overtime: $0
Other pay: $0
Benefits: $0
Total compensation: $2,003
Hire date: 2018-02-20
Middle name: L

Source-specific fields

Employee Identifier: 55a0344b-ba77-425b-8bac-10138af23334
Fiscal Period: 2018Q2
Fiscal Quarter: 2
Job Code: 604
Position Id: 1800486

Steven Pick holds the role of Assistant Public Defender I at Public Defender. Hired in 2018, they have under a year of service. In 2018, their total compensation was $2,003.

Max Suchan

Assistant Public Defender I/Public Defender

2018 total comp

$2,003

Base pay: $2,003
Overtime: $0
Other pay: $0
Benefits: $0
Total compensation: $2,003
Hire date: 2018-02-20
Middle name: M

Source-specific fields

Employee Identifier: 93241a8a-7161-439d-9da4-c2bd292af078
Fiscal Period: 2018Q2
Fiscal Quarter: 2
Job Code: 604
Position Id: 1800326

Max Suchan holds the role of Assistant Public Defender I at Public Defender. Hired in 2018, they have under a year of service. In 2018, their total compensation was $2,003.

Matthew Hiltibran

Assistant Public Defender I/Public Defender

2018 total comp

$2,003

Base pay: $2,003
Overtime: $0
Other pay: $0
Benefits: $0
Total compensation: $2,003
Hire date: 2018-02-20
Middle name: W

Source-specific fields

Employee Identifier: d17d1ca4-9665-4f70-a9ab-73a07a532f4f
Fiscal Period: 2018Q2
Fiscal Quarter: 2
Job Code: 604
Position Id: 1800463

Matthew Hiltibran holds the role of Assistant Public Defender I at Public Defender. They have served since 2018 (under a year). In 2018, their total compensation was $2,003.